Castle of Shadows
by Misaki Amaya
Summary: In a world where Truth and Ideals are the centre of legends, fifteen-year-old White is about to be stuck in the middle of it all. She doesn't know it yet, but the strange boy she's been meeting on her journey is more than just a crazy stalker that talks in maths, and she's about to discover that it could be their differences that bring them together.
1. Chapter 1

**Castle of Shadows**

**-.-.-**

**Part 1: Ideals**

**-.-.-**

**Chapter 1: In the Little Town of Nuvema**

-.-.-

It all began in a castle. A castle of shadows. No light would ever see its way through the thick coating of darkness that glazed its outline and guarded it from anything that may try to enter. The sun could do nothing but shine pitifully above the layer of dirt covering it, trying helplessly to blast its light through the blackness, but to no avail. The surroundings were too dark, and managed to easily absorb it, taking light hostage within its ghostly clutches. Anyone looking on, if they ever managed to get near the castle, wouldn't see anything but piles upon piles of shadowy substance, so thick that it almost seemed solid. Despite this, the castle was very cleverly hidden by its creators, buried so far in the middle of nowhere that very few people would even think about going far enough to find it.

For centuries, it had been of little use, just sitting underneath a thick pile of earth with nothing really going on there. It didn't really want to be uncovered – or should I say, the creators didn't want it to be uncovered. Too much had happened there, and since disaster had struck, the tower had been sent to ruin and shoved underground, never to be seen again. That is, until it was dug up. Or rather, dug into.

The uselessness was just what the man – an advisor – needed for his schemes. He needed somewhere to hide his insanity, useful for cloaking himself in a layer of innocence. Underneath that coat of deceiving, there was but a merciless soul that couldn't really contain itself if left alone. When around other people, it was simple, though he did struggle to keep it within him. The anger came from one simple reason; he, himself, was not king. He wasn't even a descendent of any sort of royalty. Instead, many years ago, a fine maiden had birthed a royal being into existence, and somehow, that baby had ended up in his own filthy hands.

That child was now standing behind him. Though very much a teenager, this boy was basically a child. He wasn't merciless enough to control the endless lines of sheep-like knights that now marched inside the very castle. Yes, royalty himself wasn't able to command his own troops in the castle that fate would have him end up in. That, however, was where the man came in. See, he did all the dirty work for the king, so much that he thought that he may as well have been the rightful king. But, so be it, he was not, and he would have to throw credit back at the worthy king for the time being.

Even so, he had a decent herd of troops at his hands. At every second, no matter how physically far away they were, he could almost always reach his long, bony fingers out and touch their delicate frames. They were the very definition of "strength in numbers", but those tiny details really didn't matter to their commander.

At the moment, those troops were waiting for something very special. Something that could either happen within a few minutes or a few days. As they paced nervously in their designated lines, never daring to step out even a footstep, their thoughts lay on nothing but the routine they would carry through during the coronation that was inevitably coming. Their fingers twisted out and around themselves in slick motions, never getting caught together, but instead intertwining in a nervous manner. Not one person stood out among the rest; really, with their grey capes and stumbling forms, they could have been mistaken for bed sheets. Instead, they all took the form of knights, though none of them were too subtle about their general appearance.

On the walls of the castle, where all of the knights marched, were large banners sporting the letter "P" in some sort of fancy font that looked like it had taken far too long to make. In-between each banner, large stain-glass windows hung, though they didn't really let anything in. Their colours were dark, having no light to take in, yet they all had some sort of mysterious aura to them, like a dark light circled the glass. The largest, sitting at the back of a large platform stage, took the swirling form of two dragons, circling around each other and taking the form of Yin and Yang.

Despite the creepy surroundings, the knights continued to pace the old floorboards. They'd gotten used to everything around them. The surroundings, the people, the leaders. They were all common things to them that ordinary people would find terrifying. Still, they did find their authorities a little scary, though the feelings of fear had become such a common thing that they weren't so odd anymore. Instead, fear was mixed with general, everyday feelings until it was barely noticeable.

They spent most of their days pacing, waiting for the moment when they could stop. They knew the event in which they would finally be put to use. They had known since they'd entered the clutches of the castle, but they didn't know when exactly that event could happen. It could have been minutes from then, or hours, or perhaps even months. But until then, they would continue to pace in their lines, step-by-step, each one making them more and more tired.

One tired knight, wearier than the rest, took a moment to look up at the large grandfather clock in the corner of the room. The old object went largely unused, mainly kept there because it was part of the original building, though someone would occasionally glance over to check the time, only to forget what they saw a mere few seconds later. Anything they looked at, really, completely slipped off of their mind and hit the ground, only to be kicked around by pacing feet. They all had extremely short attention spans, not really picking up anything unless it was screamed in their ears. That was how their leader generally got across to these brainless sheep.

This time, the face of the clock stuck in his brain for more than a few seconds. 11:59, it read, telling him that it was merely a minute until midnight. Perhaps, when the clock strikes twelve, he should go and get some sleep. Even so, he dreaded the hour that he was waiting for, and if it came while he was asleep, that would not be good news for him. So, he instead waited, waited for the minute to pass and signal the chime for yet another day in his so far useless life.

However, when the clock struck twelve and low chimes echoed around the room, the doors in front of the hall banged open, and two figures stepped out. Those figures were the most feared figures amongst the castle, and as soon as they entered, all eyes turned to them, and everyone dropped to their knees in a respectful bow, trying not to show their nervousness. The taller figure at the front, armoured with a long, fancy robe and a blood red monocle, looked around them, a satisfying smile creeping up onto his pale white lips; the advisor.

Slowly, he raised a hand and gave a small wave, before turning behind him and also bowing. This shocked the knights, but they didn't show their true feelings at all. They knew why he was bowing, and that reason terrified them above anything else. Just before the robed man, a face rarely seen among them was entering, but they knew all too well who it was. And his entrance could only mean one thing;

It was time for the coronation.

-.-.-

Miles upon miles from the castle, there was a small house in the middle of nowhere. This house sat in a tiny town called Nuvema town, and it wasn't that hard to figure out whose house was whose. There were only three houses in total, plus a Pokémon lab. Like the dark castle, it was midnight where the house sat, though this time, the silver light of the moon could provide a flurry of miraculous silver lining and make the place all that much better to live in. The town was generally quiet, with only the occasional scuttle of a Patrat in the forest surroundings to break through the silence.

However, if one was to listen closely enough, they would be able to hear the soft flips of the pages of a book. This sound was coming from the house mentioned previously, though the girl doing the page turning was trying to avoid being heard. If one had a keen eye, they could see the flickering flame of a candle shining out through the bedroom window where the girl sat, cross-legged, on her bed. Her eyes were squinted, her mind; almost torn trying to unscramble the blurry letters in the dark as she tried to read. Her hands shook as she turned past each page, her eyes getting more and more tired with each word read.

She wished she could turn on a light, or at least creep downstairs and bring a torch up with her, but if her mother heard that she was still awake, then she would be in _big _trouble. So, instead, she only had the light of her feeble little candle, the flame of which was slowly failing, dying to smoke. Not that it provided much light anyway, and she had to sit right up against the candle itself in order to even get a limited look at the pages she was reading. She wasn't really paying too much attention anymore, and her eyelids were threatening to shut on her any second. The fire definitely reflected in her eyes, though as it faded, so did her energy.

The only thing keeping her awake at that time was a rather good reason, she thought. After that reason ticked over to reveal a new day, she would be able to rest peacefully. She was waiting for an entirely new day. Not daylight, of course, she'd probably go insane with tiredness if she waited that long. No, all she needed was for the clock on her bedside table to read 12:00. Then she could lie down and sleep silently knowing that it was finally her fifteenth birthday.

Forcing an extremely heavy lot of breath out of her nose, she continued flicking her eyes over the book, though it had gotten to the point where she was barely looking at the pictures anymore, let alone actually reading. In the dash of her eyes, she flicked her gaze over to the bright red numbers of her digital clock. After completely ignoring what it said, she averted her eyes back to the book, not paying attention to that at all, either. However, after a mere few seconds, her squinted eyes widened and she turned – with her whole body this time, completely disregarding the book to look at the clock.

When she saw the time – 11:59 – she felt her lips widen and creep up into a wide grin. One minute to go. One dragging, horrible minute. That minute felt like a marathon to her as she mentally fought with her eyes to stay awake. If she wasn't so tired, her heart would have probably been pounding out of her chest at that moment. Instead, it continued its soft thudding, sending ripples through the chilled air in the stillness of the night. The clock could tick over at any second, and then she would finally be able to rest, something she'd become more excited about than her birthday.

As she thought that, her exhausted mindset fumbled around with other things in her head. Why was she so excited? It was just another day, after all. Of course, it would be a day where she was _officially _one year older than she used to be, then she could stop telling people she was fourteen when they asked her age. Even so, that wasn't something that big.

Maybe it was because she would be able to eat cake? Or have presents from her friends and family? Probably not that, either. Her mother made cake all the time when she was merely searching for something to do with her time, and the girl hadn't really asked for any good gifts this year.

Or maybe it was because of the fact that, once the clock ticked over, she would finally be able to get her starter Pokémon from Professor Juniper and start her Pokémon journey.

Yeah, definitely that.

For the most part, since she'd moved to the Unova Region, the girl had spent most of her time cooped up in Nuvema Town, unable to leave without a responsible adult or Pokémon to guide her. Sure, her and her two best friends had snuck into the forest on numerous occasions, usually led by her and her independent mindset, but that had become less and less appealing over the years, especially when the thoughts of actually travelling became more and more apparent.

Through all of this thinking, the girl had nearly forgotten that her bed side clock existed at all, and when it ticked over to read 12:00, she nearly fell off of her bed in realising what it meant.

To her, that number meant that a massive weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. That meant she was finally free. Well, almost; she still had to wait to get her Pokémon. Either way, she was at least in the same _day _she would receive her ticket to freedom, and not just the same month or week. That number meant that in ten short hours, she'd be just about to leave on her journey, pokéballs and supplies in hand.

Knowing this, she felt much more relieved, though part of that feeling was probably just knowing she could now go to sleep feeling satisfied. Sighing, she closed her eyes and lay back on her bed, an orange glow from behind her eyelids where the candle still sat a few inches from her face. Rolling over to face it, she placed her hands under her cheek and gave a soft blow, all whilst burying herself in her blankets.

Suddenly, there was nothing but darkness with a thin sliver of silver moonlight in her bedroom. She yawned and turned back over, taking one last look around her room before darkness took over her for a long, blissful slumber.

"Happy birthday, White…" she whispered.

-.-.-

The advisor didn't need to call for silence among the knights. He'd certainly expected to have to; surely, there would be at least one group of three or four that would be muttering among themselves nervously. For they were always nervous, he knew, and he'd gotten used to having to bellow out warnings or threats if they did not shut up. This time, though, he was within a new presence. It wasn't just him anymore. No, he was with the _king_. Well, the would-be king.

Said king walked behind him, dressed in long white robes that completely enveloped his body, never showing any skin. The only exposed flesh was on his face, though even part of that - his forehead - was covered in part of his thick, shaggy green mane. He walked proud, tall, like he was already a leader. Oh, how far away from that he was. Though the older man who now walked in front of the to-be king liked to consider himself as the advisor when named out loud, he saw himself as a much higher figure in his own eyes.

The advisor felt his lip turn up a little, partially in disgust for the boy who pranced behind him, and partially in annoyance for his own desires. He was powerful, therefore he should have been able to lead the army of knights himself. Instead, he needed help for it. Well, perhaps it wasn't quite that simple.

But the knights' heads were bowed too low to notice any of the advisor's facial expressions. They only stared at the ground, their eyelids half closed as they tried to handle the cramps that were beginning to form in their necks. Some of them were shaking, aching legs quivering back and forth as they struggled to stay in the awkward kneeling position. They didn't watch the king, the advisor, or the six men following behind them, each one in a different coloured robe than the ones around them. As they walked, their robes only just lifted off of the pristine-clean floor, they carried the to-be king's train, their hands pleasured by the silky white material that rubbed against their fingertips. It was probably the richest material they would ever touch, and not one of them knew exactly what it was.

The advisor did; silk, simply, though not quite that simple at all. He'd made sure it was made by the finest bug-Pokémon there were. But perhaps those details were insignificant. Instead, he turned his reluctantly-racing mind back to the path ahead. The unfortunate knights that had been wandering around the hall had cleared a thin passageway for the group of higher-ups to make their way to the stage at the very foot of the hall. The stage itself seemed tiny compared to the massive, usually empty surroundings, though what did help was the magnificent stain-glass that proudly stood behind it.

As the group reached the front, two girls emerged from the masses, previously undiscovered at the sidelines. The young king looked up at them, taking a quick glance, so quick it was almost like he was blinking. They didn't notice at all, for they weren't looking at him. Instead, they were focussing on bowing formally, hands entwined in their laps, at the advisor. The two were the true pictures of beauty, each one the exact same height, with the same flawless faces. One of them was clad in yellow, with striking blond hair that flowed perfectly down her back. The other had bubblegum-pink hair, and she looked slightly more nervous than the other. Either one could be compared to goddesses with their beauty.

As the young king approached them, they turned around to him, eyes slightly closed, and though they could not see, they could feel his marvellous presence. He gave them a small, nervous grin as they stepped forward and held out their hands. He took them, suddenly feeling a little more content with his situation. Though he hadn't lost his balance at all, the two girls helped him up the stairs in a most graceful manner, hands delicately touching his skin.

The atmosphere around his own fingers felt almost empty as they dragged their own off of him, and he took his own stance at the top of the stage, standing tall next to the advisor. The older man, who now seemed a little less irritated, much to everyone's relief, raised his hand and gestured for the knights to stand up. They all obeyed, trying to hide their hesitation behind confident faces as they all stood in sync.

The young king gulped, looking around at all of the people that he would soon be leading. There were certainly a lot of them, and now that they were all standing in front of him, it was almost intimidating. The fact that some of them were biting their lips or tapping their index fingers together made him a little more confident, knowing that they were all just as nervous as he was, if not more.

However, as the advisor gave his speech, bellowing out to his subjects, the young king knew that it was time for a change. An ideal change. And nothing was going to stop him.

-.-.-

There's not much more to say about royalty. For now, anyway. But it's now that our story truly began.

It began as White's eyes opened on the day of her fifteenth birthday.

Apparently, at that hour of the morning, her eyes weren't ready at all for the flood of light that wrenched her pupils wider. That hour of the morning was exactly eight o'clock, and, though not that early at all, White had never been an early riser. Early for her didn't end until at least nine o'clock, though considering she'd had such a late night the previous night, that limit would have probably been extended to at least ten o'clock.

She awoke with a feeling of confusion, having fallen asleep with the tiny light of a smouldering candle, woken up with the giant light of the sun flooding through her window. Her eyes ached as she fought a war with her eyelids, trying to force them open as they screamed for mercy. In the end, they had won, and she groaned and rolled over to face the wall, submitting to her body's tiredness.

The clock turned to display 8:01.

That was when she remembered exactly why she'd gone to bed so late. As she turned, her still fluttering eyes took a single, split-second glance at the calendar above her bed and, a second later, she sat up like something had hit her in the head. Sitting up so fast was more of a reflex action than anything, and she was a little dazed when she finally regained control of her own body, suddenly feeling lost even in such a small room. She suddenly thought she was aware of the whole world spinning, and it was threatening to knock her down at any moment.

After a few more seconds, mostly taken up by White trying to steady her wobbling head, she finally swung her legs over the bed and stretched her arms up, yawning. She saw her scrunched up face in the mirror across from the bed, and laughed lightly at the sight. "Wow, that's attractive," she said to herself, suddenly feeling a lot happier about her situation. As she bounded off of the bed, she turned to her window and tugged the curtains wide open, sticking her head through the window frame and taking a large breath of fresh air. Perfect day, in her opinion; breeze light and cool, intense and warm. It was perfectly pleasant. Good day to start a journey.

The curtains fluttered beside her head, leaving soft streams of blurry, pale yellow in the corners of her eyes. Her excitement growing, she turned back around and bounded off of her bed, landing with a soft _thud _on the ground before skipping over to her mirror. As she pulled her mass of curly, dark brown hair into a high ponytail, the usual style, she realised how much her hands were shaking. Out of anticipation, of course, knowing that there were plenty of things waiting for her downstairs. Well, probably not too much, but it wasn't like she needed much. Besides, she'd get a Pokémon before too long, and that's all she really wanted on such a day.

Around five minutes later, with her hair in a messy ponytail and a pink and white cap pulled onto her head, she ran downstairs, skipping every second step and almost tripping over on the last. Skidding around the corner, she rushed into the living room and leaped onto the couch. Her mother, who was busy making pancakes in the kitchen, gave White a look like she'd just teleported in front of her.

"Morning," she said, an almost tired tone to her voice. She turned back to the stove, not bothering to watch her daughter rubbing at the toe she'd stubbed multiple times on the way down. "Oh, yeah, happy birthday."

White's eyelids drooped and she gave her mother an unimpressed look. "Thanks," she drawled, "_Allison."_

This time, it was her mother's time to give the unimpressed look. "Oh, don't get like that." She shook her head, knowing that White only called her by her first name when she got irritated. "I'm making pancakes with pecha berries. Cheren, Bianca and I could eat them all by ourselves, though, if you want us to."

White's eyes perked up once more, and she waved a dismissive hand in the air. "Don't worry, I'll be good." She then chuckled, shaking her head. "Actually, it'll be you and Cheren. Bianca'll be late, I guarantee it."

At that point, there was a knock at the door. White's heart leaped at the sudden sound. She turned towards the front of the house where, through the blurry window in the door, a silhouette of a person could be seen. She stood up, turning her head towards her mother as she walked. "I'll get it!" she called, but the obvious call was unnecessary. "And if this is Bianca, I'll eat my hat."

Luckily, for her sake, the open door revealed the black-haired, nerdy form of Cheren, carrying a present. Through his glasses, his eyes were slightly lopsided, one eyebrow raised with his mouth planted on a smug smirk. Barely even looking at White, he walked over the threshold and placed a rectangular-shaped box wrapped in silver wrapping paper on the coffee table. He then turned to her as he shut the door and eyed him quizzically.

"I heard your little remark," he began, still smirking, "and I was tempted to leave and go and get Bianca. Get her to walk in before me." He placed his index finger on the brim of White's hat. "It'd be interesting to see how you manage to eat this. Luckily for you I'm not that mean."

White stared at him, speechless, with her mouth slightly agape.

Seeing her expression, Cheren shook his head and smiled. "Happy birthday, White." He placed a hand on her shoulder, patting her a few times like a proud father would pat his son. Even so, White didn't look happy with the results.

Now grinning mischievously, she spread her arms out and smiled hopefully. "So, do I get a hug?"

Cheren's facial reaction was hilarious. To White, anyway. He certainly wasn't one to hug. Neither was she, really, but a hug from Cheren was always an achievement. To her surprise, he spread his arms and gestured for her to hug him.

White, though taken aback, leaped into her friend's arms and hugged him a little too tightly. She could almost feel Cheren's gritted teeth from the way his chin touched her shoulder.

When she stepped back, Cheren brushed off of his shoulders and shook his arms around. "Germs," he muttered. "So many germs. Transferred by the contact."

White reached a hand out and stole his glasses. "Oh, you." She tapped the glass with the fingernail of her index finger. "You're so boring. You were never this nerdy when you were a kid." She winked, placing the glasses back on his nose so they sat there crookedly. "Have some fun for once."

At that point, without mercy, the door banged open. Both White and Cheren whorled around to face it, mentally questioning what the heck had just happened. Of course, it was only an overexcited Bianca, blond hair flying haywire behind her and green, puffy hat only just propped on her head enough to stay there. Like White's were previously, her arms were spread, though it wasn't Cheren who she was charging for.

"Ohmigosh!" she squealed, literally diving onto White and knocking them both to the ground. "Happy happy happy birthday!"

"Help. Me," was all White could manage to choke through the limited supply of oxygen.

Cheren was no help at all. As payback for the previous, much unwanted hug encounter, he was watching from the sidelines like a spectator at a sports game. Behind the kitchen counter, Allison took pretty much the same stance, chuckling under her breath. White was seeing this all out of the corner of her eyes, mentally cursing at them in her oxygen deprived brain.

"Need. Air."

When Bianca finally heard her cough, her previously happy place turned alarmed and she quickly jumped to her feet. "I'm sorry! I was just excited!"

White tapped her chest with the palm of her hand before sitting up cross-legged. "'Tis fine," she croaked, voice hoarse. "Thanks, but try not to kill me next time."

Bianca's cheeks turned slightly pink. "Sorry…"

-.-.-

After breakfast and present-opening (a sapphire necklace from Bianca, a book on Pokémon from Cheren, a small bag of pokéballs from Allison and a pair of socks from a friend of Allison's in Nimbasa City) White and her two friends turned their attention to the big package in the centre of the table. On the front of the package, wrapped in white and red, was a note attached to the front.

_Children of Nuvema-_

_It's finally the time! Inside this box is three pokéballs, each one containing a Pokémon. The fire-type, the water-type, and the grass-type. Choose wisely, but don't argue. Whoever you get, I'm sure they'll make a great partner,_

_-Professor Juniper_

_P.S. Happy birthday, White!_

White smiled at the professor's attitude. She'd always been jumpy, maybe even slightly impatient, but a good person all the same. She folded up the note and tossed it carelessly to the side, ignoring her mother's scowl from across the room. She'd want the note to be kept, symbolising the first day of White's journey. Really, White thought that the _Pokémon _would be the thing to symbolise the start of her journey.

As Allison stepped up and took the note from the table, White, Cheren and Bianca's eyes were all planted hungrily on the package. White turned to the other two, a questioning look on her face. "So, do we open it? Right now?"

Cheren shrugged. "I think so."

Without further hesitation, White gripped the ribbon between her index finger and thumb and pulled the knot away from the gift, before throwing it to the side, ignoring another scowl from her mother. When she'd done so, Bianca reached forward, grabby hands lashing the lid off of the box and instantly pulling out the pokéballs.

"How do we know what's inside?" she asked, excitement filling her high-pitched voice.

"I guess we let them out," said Cheren, adjusting his glasses to observe the pokéballs.

That seemed to be the answer Bianca had been wanting to hear. Letting out an eager "Whee!" sound, she carelessly hurled all three pokéballs into the air. The room filled with red light that had just spilled out of the capsules, and White held a hand up to her face to guard her eyes, only just seeing the light morph and change into three solid objects.

"Sni."

"Osha!"

"Tep."

The first one she saw wasn't particularly looking at anyone. Instead, it seemed to be _avoiding _looking at anyone. It stared at the wall on the far side of the room, crossing its vine-like arms over its chest and holding its serpentine nose into the air.

Both White and Bianca turned to Cheren, eyeing him curiously and waiting for him to explain. He let out a small sigh and, like the green, snake-like Pokémon, crossed his arms to his chest.

"Snivy," he explained. "It's a grass-type." He pushed his glasses further up his nose as he turned to the second Pokémon, a blue otter-like creature with a shell attached to its chest. "Oshawott, a water-type."

The Oshawott tapped its chest. "Osha!" it cried proudly, placing its paws on its hips and standing as tall as it could. Unfortunately, this led to it falling over backwards.

Cheren rolled his eyes, before turning to the orange and red, pig-like Pokémon on the far right. "And that one's Tepig, a fire-type."

White nodded, her anticipation growing as she stared at the three. Snivy didn't seem at all happy with the situation it was in, and was turned away from everyone, eyes half-lidded and nose turned to the air. It was funny to watch its proud stance compared to the comical Oshawott, who was still rolling around on its back, trying to stand up after its inappropriately-timed fall. Tepig was staring at the two, looking extremely awkward with the situation as it pondered on whether it should help or not.

"So… Who do we pick?" asked Bianca nervously, her eyesight flicking back and forth between the three Pokémon. "I mean, I don't know who to pick. I don't want to take anyone's preference, though."

White shrugged. "I don't really have a preference."

Cheren shook his head. "Neither. They all have their weaknesses and are pretty much equal in strength at the moment."

"How about we do it this way?"

Allison stepped in-between the humans and the Pokémon, the three pokéballs held in her hands. Without anyone's consent, she turned to face the three Pokémon and returned them to their pokéballs. "I'll go up-stairs, shuffle the pokéballs, then you three can choose randomly. Sound fair?"

The three eyed each other, as if mentally asking for confirmation, before White turned back to her mother and nodded firmly.

"Sounds fair."

Allison nodded proudly. "Good. Be back in a mo'!"

As her mother padded up the stairs with a mischievous look on her face, White turned to her two friends and crossed her arms, knowing that the wait would be the most painful wait of her life. The silence between everything was unbearable, and the only thing she could do to avoid it was to think up scenarios with each Pokémon in her head. The ones with Snivy didn't really go down well. He seemed extremely disobedient, and though she wouldn't mind who she got, a tiny voice in her head was praying that it wouldn't be Snivy. Oshawott was a little better, fighting with the shell on her stomach to fend off other Pokémon, though half-way through the fight she would occasionally fall down out of sheer clumsiness. Tepig seemed the most obedient of the three, though, in her head, he was a little out-there and feisty. He was a fire-type, after all.

To her relief, if didn't take Allison long to come back down the stairs, holding the box of pokéballs in hand. "So, who wants to pick first?" the mother enquired, setting the box down on the table.

To White's surprise, both Cheren and Bianca pushed her forward. She turned back to them hesitantly, a little flustered that they were letting her pick first.

"Well, it _is _your birthday," Cheren said simply, one hand in the pocket of his jeans.

White turned back to the box, deciding not to fight with them. This was it; the next pokéball she touched would contain the Pokémon to be her partner for her journey. She scanned them over once more, praying that she would make the right choice. Well, it wasn't really a choice, but still. Her hand hovered over the middle one, thinking that that would be best. But, as she was lowering her hand down, just as her fingers were about to enclose around it, she quickly switched to the first one.

The intense stillness of the room was amazing. All eyes were on her, and Allison was grinning down at her. White supposed that she knew who her partner was, since she'd switched the pokéballs around. Despite wanting to know what Pokémon she got, she stepped back, gesturing for Cheren and Bianca to pick their Pokémon.

"We'll open them together," she said, replying to their confused looks. Bianca beamed at her, bounding up to the box and gripping her hand around the second ball. Cheren, the third, and, all at once, they threw them into the air.

The flash of simultaneous red light was back, though now that White was prepared for it, it was a little less shocking. She could only stare at the red light as it morphed in what seemed like slow motion into the solid form of what appeared to be…

"Osha!"

White breathed a hefty sigh of relief, partially glad that Cheren had received Snivy; they seemed like a good match. But Oshawott… By the look in her new Pokémon's eye, something told her that Oshawott would be a good partner. That left Bianca with an excited-looking Tepig.

The little blue otter was looking around confusedly, probably confused as to who her trainer was. However, when White smiled down at her and knelt in front of her, she seemed happy to know who would be her trainer partner.

"Osh!" she cried, leaping onto White's shoulder.

White giggled nervously, scratching Oshawott on the chin. "Huh, that was easy," she muttered. "I thought I'd have to make an effort to bond with you." Oshawott turned her head to the side, but White only laughed again. "Welcome aboard, buddy."

-.-.-

It wasn't too long later that White found herself standing inside Professor Juniper's lab, Cheren and Bianca at her sides and Oshawott perched happily on her shoulder. It was an image she never even thought to imagine, but now that it was happening, it seemed like a dream. This time tomorrow, she'd be in a new town, so close yet so far away from the only place she'd ever known clearly. It was both sad and exciting, and it was hard to figure out which of those feelings overpowered the other.

"Now, I'm sure you all know why I called you all here." Professor Juniper whorled around, arms spread and an excited beam on her face. As she turned, a few strands of her messy bun and the bottom of her lab-coat fluttered out around her gracefully, though the human herself wasn't that graceful as she made a grab for the book she'd absentmindedly knocked off the shelf.

She let out a small cough. "Um, yes, answer to my statement?"

"It's for the Pokédex, right?"

Of course it was Cheren to answer, in all his ridiculously nerdy knowledge. White couldn't help but mutter, "Smartass," under her breath, though luckily no one heard but Bianca, who looked like she had to hold herself back from bursting out laughing.

"Correct!" Juniper's grin got even wider. "Precisely! Now, a Pokédex is a high-tech device that records information on the Pokémon you encounter. The Pokémon around here, well, we have record of, but…" She spread her arms out wide. "There are many different places I have yet to go, and that's where you three come in. I want you all to go out and find new and rare Pokémon that I haven't had a chance to see yet!"

"So, that will include going places really far away, right?"

White looked over at Bianca, whose face had turned slightly pail in asking the question. She seemed nervous, though it was understandable. Bianca had always been relatively close with her parents.

"Yes," said Juniper obliviously, not noticing the nervous tone in Bianca's voice at all. White turned her gaze to look at Cheren, who only shrugged and gave her a "We'll talk about it later" look, in which White nodded in response.

"Now," continued Juniper, "if any of you have questions, feel free to ask me. If not…" She grinned and waved. "Bon voyage!"

-.-.-

The three exited the town without much hesitation, though Bianca was still extremely pail. As they walked, Cheren was busy examining his Pokédex when the flighty blond pushed White to the side.

"Bianca-?"

White was cut off by her friend's frantic tone.

"If dad calls you to try to get a hold of me, don't answer," she hissed urgently.

"What-?"

"Just don't, okay." Bianca drew a cross over her heart with her index finger and White, without questioning it, nodded.

"I promise," she whispered. "Cross my heart…"

"And hope to die," finished Bianca, seeming a little more relieved. "Cheren!"

As planned previously, the three stood in front of the boundary between Nuvema Town and Route 1 to take their very first steps together. White stood in the middle, gripping Cheren's and Bianca's hands. The three looked at each other, and even Cheren was smiling eagerly.

"One…" they chanted together. "Two… Three!"

It began with a step.

-.-.-

**...**

**Wowza.**

**Greetings, one and all, to my new fanfiction!**

**Okay, maybe it's not so new…**

**So, some of you may know, some of you may not know, but this is actually a rewrite. Lemme tell you a story. A year ago, thirteen year old me decided to get into fanfiction. Good idea, right? I hoped it was, since I'd shipped ships before I knew what shipping was. Back then, I was pretty crap at writing, but hey, I was an oblivious girl who was in love with Pokémon. It seemed like a good idea.**

**That was exactly a year ago today. So, fast forward a year and I'm a much better writer, in my opinion, anyway. A few months ago, I decided to go back and read my old works and I couldn't help but think, "Damn, this sucks."**

**Seriously, why did I have any readers?**

**Anyway, we won't go into that. I decided to rewrite the first few chapters, but I got to the seventh and I started to realise that there were a whole ton of plot points that I've thought of that I couldn't add because I was too far into the story. So, I asked myself, "Do I want to rewrite it?"**

**The few of you that gave your opinions in either messages or reviews seemed to be on my side, saying that I should do what I think is right. So, I guess, by reading this, you know what my decision was.**

**So, I welcome you all to my new fanfiction journey, "Castle of Shadows". I'm Misaki Amaya, and I'll be your writer for the next few dozen chapters. I hope you stick around, because there's plenty more for you to latch onto. So sit back and enjoy the ride!**

**I have a few little notes for you all. One: I decided to cut out the first trainer battles. You know, the ones you get right after you get your Pokemon? To be honest, writing battles where all the Pokemon know is Tackle is really boring.**

**Two: In terms of Bianca's father thing, well... We'll get to that later in the story. I wanted to follow the actual game as little as possible for this chapter to make it more interesting.**

**Three: Fun fact! If White had have picked the middle pokeball instead, she would have gotten Tepig. I was actually torn with who I was going to give her. I gave her Oshawott in the previous version, but I was actually considering switching to Tepig for a bit. But Oshawott just adds too much humour. Either way, Cheren would have gotten Snivy. Because, let's face it, they're perfect.**

**So yeah, that's all I have to say. Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**Oh, yeah, and thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Castle of Shadows**

**-.-.-**

**Part 1: Ideals**

**-.-.-**

**Chapter 2: Accumula: The Town of Walking Irony**

**-.-.-**

Route 1; a simple route, short and sweet, with nothing much on it other than a path and a bit of grass. A few relatively weak Pokémon roamed around, usually hesitating and running from anyone that may pass. Generally, it was the route that many up and coming trainers would go to train up their weaker Pokémon, and White, Bianca and Cheren were no exception.

White wasn't sure how her other two friends felt, but to her, Route 1 was so much more than a little pointless route for training. Sure, there were more interesting places she would eventually go to, with many more interesting people. But to her, this route was the start of everything. As she walked in a line, Cheren and Bianca by her sides, Oshawott clinging to her shoulder, she was sure her racing heart was sending pulses through the would-be still air.

Even so, the feeling certainly didn't feel new. Oshawott, though the two had only known each other for less than an hour, seemed to have already made White's left shoulder her rightful seat. White didn't mind; it felt comfortable to her, making her feel safe from any danger that could jump out of the bushes. And danger certainly could come out of the bushes in such a place.

The three teenagers walked in silence for around five minutes, taking in their surroundings and getting used to the fact that they wouldn't be going home for awhile. Eventually, however, White and Cheren turned their attention to Bianca, who was softly giggling to herself under her breath.

White raised an eyebrow, stopping her walking and turning her entire body towards her. "What's up?" she asked, a somewhat suspicious tone to her voice. Bianca jumped at her sudden pause, quickly turning towards White with a defiant look on her face.

"Oh, it's nothing bad!" she insisted, waving her hands defensively in the air. "I just had a good idea, that's all!" Laughing again, a little more awkwardly this time, she rubbed the back of her neck, a pink tinge to her cheeks.

Cheren crossed his arms and shifted his weight uncomfortably. "A good idea in our eyes, or in yours?" He paused for a second, giving her a little time to answer. When she looked utterly confused, however, he decided to take matters into his own hands. "Because, you know, they're completely different things. You're ideas are usually pretty… Well, not as good as you think they are."

At this, Snivy made his way up Cheren's leg and perched up on his arm, crossing his arms much in the same fashion as his trainer always did. As White gazed at their half-lidded, smug eyes, she couldn't help but think how uncanny the resemblance was. Snivy was basically a Pokémon form of Cheren, and though she'd been a little hesitant about getting Snivy herself, she had a feeling that her childhood friend would have no trouble teaching the little snake.

Bianca stared at Cheren, too, blank faced and rather taken aback. "Oh, no, it's a good idea! Promise!" She seemed desperate now in her attempts to convince White and Cheren that her idea was good. Before either of them could open their mouths, she quickly added in, "Wait, lemme tell you. How about we have a Pokémon catching contest?"

Well, the suggestion definitely wasn't as odd as White thought it was going to be. Actually, it seemed pretty logical. It would teach them to catch Pokémon, plus give their own Pokémon some company.

Of course, Cheren found a reason that it wasn't a good idea before anyone could even have a good think about it. "Wouldn't that be a little illogical? There are only about two types of Pokémon that can be found on this route. Maybe three, but it's rare."

White rolled her eyes. "Oh, of course _you _find something negative about it!" she snapped, shaking her head. "Everything to you is illogical. Come on, have a little fun for once. I'm all for it."

Bianca's eyes lit up. "Really?"

White nodded. "I don't see why not." She then turned to Cheren, nudging him on the arm suggestively. "And _you're _in, too, aren't you?"

Seeing the glare he was now being given and the Lillipup-eyes from Bianca, Cheren couldn't quite find the heart to say no. Letting out a groan, he mumbled, "Fine, but we're going to win. Come on, Snivy."

Without a glance back, he marched down the path, head pinned straight ahead of him and spare pokéball gripped in his hand.

White turned to look at Bianca, who was pouting her lip and looking rather offended. "Wow, what a party-pooper." She placed her hands on her hips and shook her head, blond strands of hair flying around her face as she did so, only held down by her hat. "Well, I'd best be off! We'll meet outside Accumula Town, okay? Then we'll compare Pokémon."

With that, Bianca skipped off, leaving White standing alone with Oshawott.

"So, we're separating, huh…" she muttered to herself. She supposed it was reasonable; she couldn't cling to her friends all the time when on a journey for something that _she _wastrying to achieve. Either way, she didn't think they'd be splitting up this quickly. Maybe at least travel the first route together.

Sighing, she placed a hand on Oshawott's head and smiled. "Well, we're not going to win by standing around here. Let's go catch us a Pokémon."

-.-.-

_Rustle, rustle._

White paused mid-step as the sound entered her ears. So far, her efforts in even _finding _a Pokémon had been futile, the route seeming abandoned, like some sort of ghost town. She was beginning to get frustrated. Until, that is, she heard the rustle beside her. It was still going, too, and now that she was concentrating on nothing but the source of the sound, she could see the leaves of the bush beside her moving back and forth between each other.

_A Pokémon! _She thought excitedly, slowly moving her hand down to the pocket of her shorts and making sure she had at least one spare pokéball inside of it. When she felt the lump, she breathed a sigh of relief and swirled around to face the bush, almost throwing Oshawott off of her shoulder as she did so.

With her sudden movement, the creature in the bush seemed just as startled at the otter, who was now desperately clinging onto a tangled mass in White's hair. Luckily, instead of running, the brown rat-like Pokémon decided to fight. As it leaped out, its bright yellow eyes glaring and its paw above its face, keeping the sun out, it chattered its teeth and let out quiet, high-pitched warning growls that really, with the size of the Pokémon, weren't all-that threatening.

Scrambling for her bag, White pulled open the flap – perhaps a little too harshly – and yanked her Pokédex out of the pocket that she'd previously shoved it into. Fumbling with the buttons, she quickly pointed the camera at the Pokémon and held it there, causing a confused look to appear on its face. Over the clicking of its bucked teeth, a croaky, electronic voice came out of the speakers of the device, making White jump slightly.

"_Patrat; the-"_

Before the Pokédex could even begin to explain things about the so-called Patrat, White slammed the device shut and shoved it back into her bag, yanking the flap back down and turning her attention back to the Pokémon. Sure, she probably could have learned more about it, but even so, she was more concerned with battling and catching it than she was actually learning.

"Pat?" The Patrat now had an utterly confused look on its face. Whether or not it had seen a trainer so close before, it had probably expected the opponent to attack rather than point a man-made machine at it. Because of this, it seemed to regain its confidence when Oshawott leaped off of White's shoulder and glared at it.

"Okay, umm…" White stared at the scene, not particularly sure what to do. Having a practice battle with Cheren or Bianca probably would have been a good idea, but it was too late now. "Uh, okay, the professor said that Oshawott knows… Ah!"

Before she could even finish her sentence, the Patrat didn't hesitate in bounding off of the ground and charging mercilessly at a now stunned Oshawott. It seemed to fly through the air, almost like it had wings, though the scene was completely over-exaggerated in the young trainer's mind. So much to the point that when the rat made contact with her Pokémon, she let out a strange, high-pitched noise of worry.

Even so, Oshawott didn't seem worried at all. Though shocked, the otter got right back onto her feet once she'd been slammed through the air by the Patrat's Tackle attack. She skidded back a few inches, tiny teeth gritted and arms out in front of her, ready for her trainer's command. Which command, even White wasn't sure, as her mind had been wiped of all logical thinking from the shock of having her Pokémon attacked.

"Osha!" snapped Oshawott, a little irritated by White taking so long. She couldn't really do much without a command, that was how she'd been trained as a baby, and the Patrat was already charging at her with another Tackle.

With the low grunting cry that Oshawott let out, White snapped back into reality a little more, though half of her head was still in a worrisome cloud. "Okay, uh, dodge!"

Breathing out a small sigh of relief, Oshawott bounded off of the ground and dived to the side, causing the Patrat to completely miss its target and narrowly dodge a tree instead. Seeing that her opponent was now the stunned one, White calmed down a little and decided to call her next command. Hey, it couldn't be that hard, right?

"Okay, Oshawott, let's have a Tackle!" she called, her voice getting less and less shaky with every word.

Smiling at the progress her trainer was making, Oshawott leaped off the ground and charged at Patrat, this time switching the roles the battle had previously taken on. Trying to dodge, the Patrat failed at its plans and ended up being clipped on the foot by Oshawott's head, though didn't seem too damaged by it.

"Pat!" it snapped, landing on a lower branch of a tree and holding its foot in the air. Oshawott stared at it, though she did seem relatively proud of her work.

White, also, was mentally celebrating. She'd called her first attack, and it had hit! "Okay, let's have a-"

Before she could call out anything else, the Patrat jumped out of the tree and butted Oshawott with its head, not particularly using any attack, but simply aiming to stun its opponent and make a quick getaway. Luckily for it, it had managed to hit Oshawott right in the face, and the startled otter fell backwards and hit her head on the ground. Not wasting any time, the rat fled into the bushes, deciding never to pick a fight with any humans ever again.

White, who was still on the other side of the battlefield that they'd made out of the clearing, could only stare hopelessly at the brown blur that was now bounding through the bushes. With her hand held out and her eye twitching, she was in slight disbelief that it had actually gotten away that easily.

"Maybe this whole trainer thing is harder than I thought…" she muttered to herself, before turning her attention to Oshawott, who was still lying on the floor. "Oh, are you okay?"

Feeling terrible that she hadn't acknowledged her Pokémon's downfall sooner, she rushed over to Oshawott and knelt down beside her. Her breath got caught in her throat when she realised that Oshawott's eyes were completely blank, and the only thing that was moving was a twitching paw.

After a few seconds, however, Oshawott let out a small, "Wott..." and rolled over to her stomach, pushing herself up with a tiny grunting sound. When she did so, she sat on the ground, looking into the dirt and digging a little bit of grass up with her foot. She'd failed…

To her surprise, White just laughed and picked her up. "Hey, it's okay," she assured, giving her a small, reassuring pat in the head. "We'll get 'em next time, okay! Besides, I learned to battle, and you learned to put up with me." She laughed again, also sitting down in the grass and placing Oshawott beside her. "Now I know how easily they get away. How about we break for lunch?"

As she looked up, the blazing sun shone above them, pretty much directly in the middle of the sky with a few clouds flowing blissfully around it. She smiled up at it, though when she realised her eyes were beginning to water from the brightness, she looked back down and swung her bag over her shoulder. Sticking her tongue out for concentration and biting on it lightly, she dug around in it until she found what she was looking for.

"Okay, let's see what Mum packed for us…" she muttered under her breath, trying to avoid the clean clothes and spare pokéballs that had been carelessly shoved inside in her haste to leave.

Finally, right at the bottom of the bag, she felt a scrunched up paper bag. "Aha!" she exclaimed victoriously, pulling out her lunch. Beside it, she felt, was a can of Pokémon food and a bottle of water. "Okay, so I've got lunch for three days, and Pokémon food for however long…" She looked down at Oshawott, who was already trying to figure out how to open the Pokémon food can. "I don't actually know how much you eat yet. But try to save some, okay? I have a limited budget."

Though her Pokémon was barely listening and really only heard the muffled voice coming out of White's mouth, she gave a small grunt in acknowledgement before holding up the can for White to open. The girl simply laughed, taking the can and pulling the tag on it to open it. Oshawott's eyes lit up as she held up her paws for the food.

"Okay, okay, calm down." White giggled, spooning out a decent amount of food for her. "Don't get any ideas. I don't think your paws are cut out for opening this. You might slice your paw open on the metal."

With food in front of her, slicing her paw open was the last thing Oshawott was worrying about. "Osh!" she cried in a demanding tone, beginning to guzzle the bowl of food that White had just given her.

"Wow, battling is hard work, huh?" said White, pulling out her own sandwich and cramming a quarter of her mouth in at once.

She didn't really see the point of talking anymore once she realised Oshawott was too buried in her food to care about anything else.

-.-.-

Lunch was pretty much silent until Oshawott finished her food. White was halfway through her sandwich when she felt a tug on the sleeve of her jacket. She looked down to see massive beady eyes staring up at her, and her eyelids automatically fell and she rolled her eyes and suppressed a groan.

"You already ate," she said, shaking her head. "I can't give you anymore."

Oshawott made her eyes bigger. "Osha…"

White glared. "Oh. Don't do that now. You're not getting anymore, alright? This is _my _sandwich." Letting out a "humph!" she went to take another bite of her food before Oshawott could take anymore of it. What she wasn't expecting was for a ravenous brown blur to jump out of nowhere and take it out of her hand as soon as she held it up to her mouth.

When she looked down to see an empty hand, White's eye twitched and her face became coated with confusion. "Wh-" She paused mid-word, turning her gaze down to Oshawott, who seemed just as confused as she was. Despite the previous suspicion, White's Pokémon was completely sandwich-less. It was then that she regained her mindset from the shocked state she'd previously been in and turned straight to a growling Lillipup.

"You," she muttered through gritted teeth, standing up slowly and staring at the puppy before it could run away. However, it seemed too keen on a fight to run, and she instantly turned to Oshawott.

"Osh!" she cried, saluting and turning around to face the Lillipup.

"Alright, let's make the first move this time!" said White enthusiastically, almost yelling the words. "Give it a Tackle!"

Eyes squinted in determination, Oshawott pushed herself off of the ground, using her tiny tail to push a little more, and ran straight at the Lillipup, who didn't even hesitate before barking and leaping to the side. Oshawott skidded to a halt where her opponent had previously been standing and turned towards the Lillipup, whose teeth were still gritted and lips turned up in what would have been a menacing manner if the Pokémon itself was any bigger.

_I've never seen a Lillipup so aggressive,_ thought White, clenching her fists. The sandwich was discarded now, lying in a pile of dirt on the ground. "What a waste," she grumbled, though she regained her footing once the Lillipup began charging straight at Oshawott. "Dodge, then use Tackle!"

Oshawott only just managed to bound out of the way from the oncoming puppy as it charged at full-speed down the thin dirt track up the route, and when Oshawott landed on the ground, instead of using Tackle, she stood still and took a massive breath. White raised an eyebrow, but before she could question Oshawott's stance or command another attack, her Pokémon shot a thick stream of freezing cold water at the Lillipup.

As the stream cut through the air, it seemed that no one was expecting it. The opponent hadn't quite stopped charging from the Tackle, so when it turned around and saw a blast of water heading in its direction, it was definitely a surprise, especially when it was preparing for a Tackle. The attack hit it square in the ribs, sending it flying backwards and slamming into a tree.

White couldn't suppress a grin. "Or Water Gun, that's fine." Really, she had nothing to complain about, and though her voice was slightly croaky due to the unexpectedness of it all, she kept going with the battle. "Okay, Tackle it while it's still up against the tree!"

Oshawott, though she was expecting White to call for another Water Gun, didn't disobey, and charged shoulder-first at the puppy, who was, once again, smashed into the tree. Afterwards, Oshawott leaped back and stood in front of the Pokémon, waiting for another command. The Lillipup was completely dazed, the fur on its face scruffy and its eyes spinning in circles.

"Oshawott, don't do anything!" called White, gripping an empty pokéball in her hand. "I'm going to catch it!"

Nodding determinedly, Oshawott stepped out of the scene, leaving a free path for the pokéball to fly through the air and hit Lillipup on the back. It barked a little as it got sucked into the capsule, dissolving into red light before being enclosed. The pokéball landed on the ground with a small _ping _and began to twitch.

White had seen this on television before. There were all sorts of documentaries about trainers that Cheren had made her watch, and she knew perfectly well that the pokéball had to twitch three times before the Pokémon was caught. For the new trainer, those three twitches were the longest moments of her life.

"One…" She counted them under her breath, urging it on. "Two…" It twitched slower with each count, like the Pokémon was struggling less and less. "Three…"

_Ping._

She didn't move at all. The capsule was perfectly still, but something was holding her feet back. She could only stare at the pokéball as it lay, a mere few inches from her fallen sandwich, on a patch of grass in front of her.

Because of this, Oshawott decided to take matters into her own paws. Huffing, she marched up to the pokéball and picked it up, carrying it over to a gaping-mouthed White, who took it from her, still in a dazed state.

She'd caught a Pokémon…

"I caught a Pokémon!" she yelled, finally grasping the concept as she punched the air with her free fist. Oshawott did the same, calling out, "Osha!" as she did so.

Excitement pulsed through White's veins, along with an extra dash of determination. Though she really didn't need much more of that, she could feel it, heating up her blood and making her brain feel a little tingly. The pokéball in her hand felt shiny and new, though, at the same time, comfortable in her palm, like it had been there for years. Excitedly, she tossed it into the air and it burst open for the first time, letting out a flash of red light and spilling a confused Lillipup onto the ground.

Smiling, White walked up to it and knelt down, causing it to jump back and snarl a little. "Hey, it's okay," she said softly, holding out a hand. "You're with us now. Well, you don't have to be… I can let you go if you want."

Lillipup's eyes widened, and it turned its gaze to Oshawott, who was, in turn, staring at it. Though it was utterly confused, it turned back to face its new trainer and stared at the hand that was now being held out to her.

"Pup?" it yapped questionably, stepping forward and sniffing the tips of her fingers, though it jumped back, startled, when White giggled at the gesture.

"Hey, that t-tickles!" she spluttered. "So, you coming?"

Lillipup turned its head to the side, though after a painful few moments, it yapped eagerly and pressed its nose against the pokéball.

"You're tired, huh?" observed White. "Alright, return and take a rest. We'll let you out again later."

After the pokéball had sucked her new Pokémon back inside itself, White stood up and adjusted the hat on her head, looking around. The surroundings felt brighter as she stood there, one hand on her hip and her feet slightly apart, a new Pokémon within her possession. Grinning, she looked down at Oshawott and scooped her up, and the Pokémon clambered onto her shoulder.

"I wonder if Cheren and Bianca are in Accumula yet," questioned White, turning up the path and breaking into a run, completely forgotten about the catching contest.

-.-.-

Around half-an-hour later, White skidded to a halt at the entrance to Accumula town, a dizzy Oshawott on her shoulder and her shoes coated in dust. Panting, she placed her hands on her knees and attempted to catch her breath. She hadn't been tired for most of the way; the adrenaline coursing through her body overtook any form of exhaustion. Now that she was finally there, though, it all came to her in one.

Ignoring the odd stares she was getting from passers-by, she stood up straight once more, picking up her right foot and attempting to dust the dirt off of her shoes, which were previously pure black. Now, they took on a slight brown colour, and she turned her nose up at the fact that she was only spreading the dirt more.

"Ugh, these are new," she grumbled, placing her foot on the ground again and tapping her hands together, now trying to get the dust off them. With the hot weather, Route 1 was dry as a bone, and everything seemed to have a layer of grittiness attached to it. Having run on the path the whole way, the dust she'd kicked up clung to her like tape, and even she felt gritty through the sweat that coated her face.

Sighing, White looked around, scanning the people that roamed the town. She didn't recognise a single face that walked past her, though it wasn't like there were too many of them. Being a town much bigger than Nuvema, the amount of people was a little underwhelming to her. She'd almost wanted there to be large crowds, but she supposed it would be best to build up and get used to it for bigger cities.

"Where would Cheren and Bianca be…" she muttered to herself, realising finally that she didn't have a clue where she was going. Despite it not being a massive town, there were a lot of paths and side alleys between houses that she didn't particularly want to walk down. She blinked a few times, as if they would just teleport in front of her if she did so. Obviously, it didn't work, but it did bring her attention to a large blue, glass building with a red roof. On the front of the roof, it read "Pokémon Center", and her eyes lit up.

"I know those!" she said, clicking her fingers triumphantly and gaining a few more confused stares from people who probably thought she was crazy for talking to herself so much.

Immediately, she kicked off of the ground and broke into a run, surprising a previously relaxed Oshawott who probably thought they were going to be walking for a bit. Her paws were aching from clinging onto White's ponytail for so long and trying to avoid being thrown of, and really, she just wanted to have a little snooze.

With her eyes drooping and her grip on White's ponytail slipping, neither Oshawott nor White noticed the person they were about to run head-first into, no matter how tall he may be. When the trainer did run into the figure, she fell immediately to the floor with a loud _thud_.

"Ack!" White's wrist twisted painfully as she shot her arms out to stop herself from hurting herself too much. Slightly dazed, she shook her head before looking up at the person she'd run into. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Instantly sitting up, she bowed her head multiple times and shut her eyes tight, suddenly nervous. She didn't know what kind of people were in different towns. For all she knew, the people in Accumula could have been violent.

Though, when she could see clearly, something about the man's outfit told her he wasn't a local.

"Watch it!" he snapped, brushing off his grey _knight _outfit. "I need to keep this clean, not have your dirty clothes smothered on it."

White's previously open mouth closed suddenly, and her teeth gritted irritably in annoyance. She felt Oshawott's grip on her ponytail tighten and could almost feel the nervousness coming out of the young Pokémon. Despite this, the man was skinny as a twig, and his aggressive attitude wasn't going to stop White from running her mouth probably a little too much.

"Wow, _someone's _grumpy," she growled back, standing up and crossing her arms in front of him. Now that she stood tall with a firm footing, she noticed that perhaps the knight wasn't as tall as she'd previously thought. "And I apologised, what more do you want me to do?"

The knight, too, crossed his arms. "Respect people older than you, girl." Clenching his fists beneath his elbows, he twirled around snobbishly, his grey cape fluttering elegantly behind him. As he pranced off towards the side of the city, White only just caught a small mutter of "Trainers," under his breath. Luckily, he wasn't headed for the Pokémon Center, but what looked like the edge of town. This wasn't enough to wipe the glare that was now plastered on her face off, though.

"Wow, what a jerk," she mumbled, her teeth feeling like they were glued together from being gritted for so long. "Anyway, let's not worry about it. Come on, Oshawott."

Oshawott didn't reply. She was too terrified to do such a thing, and instead had her face buried inside White's ponytail. Good thing for her it was big and poofy, suitable for hiding at least her face. She clung to her shoulder the entire trip to the Pokémon Center, never looking out in the open in case the man came back. He definitely wasn't a face she wanted to see again.

When White stepped through the automatic doors of the Pokémon Center, the blast of the air-conditioner calmed her down almost immediately. She hadn't really noticed, but it had been hot outside with the blazing sun, rarely getting covered up by clouds which were thin in the sky anyway. Suddenly stepping into a cool room was relieving on every part of her body. The atmosphere of the Pokémon Center, on the contrary, was warm and calm, mostly filled with trainers or travellers who were stopping by for a bit of food or to take up a room for the night. Along with the beeping of the Pokémon healing machine and the quiet chatters of groups of people, the thought of the man in the knight suit was completely washed out of her mind and replaced with calming thoughts; something she definitely needed after such a day.

Turning her attention to the front desk, White smiled and began walking towards it, relieved that she'd finally be able to rest her Pokémon. Maybe she'd just sit inside for the rest of the day, take her shoes off of her sore feet and not worry about travelling until tomorrow. The excitement of leaving was completely used up, and now, as she was still getting used to the fact that she was now a trainer, she was just plain tired.

As she approached the front desk, she was greeted by the smile of a tall lady in a nurse's outfit. Her bright pink hair was done up in two, oddly-looped pigtails, and she had a large pink and white Pokémon standing next to her.

"Audino!" the Pokémon chirped, pulling on the nurse's sleeve. The lady turned around and greeted White with a warm smile, placing her hands on the apron in her lap and bowing formally.

"Welcome to the Accumula Pokémon Center!" she chimed, like she'd said that sentence a thousand times over. "How can I help you today?"

"My Pokémon need a rest," explained White, picking Oshawott off of her shoulder and setting her down on the desk. Oshawott yawned and rubbed her eyes, which were droopy and ready to close.

"No problem," said the nurse. "Do you have any others?"

White jumped, suddenly remembering Lillipup. Quickly, she scrambled for her bag and began digging around for the pokéball. "Yeah, I do actually…" After a few seconds, with an, "Aha!" she pulled out Lillipup's pokéball and set it down on the table, sighing contently.

"Alright, just listen for us to call and come and get them," said the nurse, handing a too-tired-to-be-confused Oshawott to Audino and picking up Lillipup's pokéball in her hand.

White laughed as she watched Oshawott fall asleep in Audino's arms as she got taken into the nursing room. She then turned towards the lunch tables, figuring she'd get a bite to eat since she didn't get much lunch. When she did so, she saw too familiar faces sitting at one of the tables.

"There they are," she muttered, slightly relieved as she approached Bianca and Cheren. "Hey, guys!"

Bianca jumped at the voice, quickly moving out of the way and gesturing for White to sit down next to her. "Hi!" Before White or Cheren could even say anything, she jumped right into a different conversation. "So, did you catch any Pokémon?"

Suddenly remembering the contest, White nodded hastily. "Yeah, I caught a Lillipup. He's being healed right now, though. Same with Oshawott."

Bianca's mouth fell open, and she suddenly looked excited. "Really! I caught a Lillipup, too!"

White laughed at her reaction. "What about Cheren?"

When she turned to the male of the three, he had his nose buried in one of the tourist books of Accumula Town, stating all of the things you could do there. White groaned, hitting the book out of his hands and wrenching his face up to see both of them.

Cheren coughed hesitantly. "Well, I kind of caught a Pokémon…" He trailed off towards the end, turning to look down at the seat next to him which White had previously assumed to be empty. Far from that, actually, as before she could even become confused, the curious face of a purple, cat-like Pokémon popped its head up over the table and licked its lips.

Seeing White's confused face, Bianca giggled. "Well, long story short, that Purrloin's been following Cheren around since he found it on the route. When we met here, he said it won't let him catch it, it just wants to follow him for a bit."

White nodded, though still rather confused. "Right…" She paused. "So, does that count as catching a Pokémon, or…?"

Cheren shrugged. "She let me battle with her. We knocked out a few Patrat along the way, so, I guess it's up to you."

Raising an eyebrow, White nodded. "As much as I'd like you to lose something to me and Bianca, that Purrloin is pretty much yours."

Bianca nodded firmly. "Alright, then we tie!" She raised her hands victoriously. "Yes, everyone's a winner!"

White rolled her eyes. "You're such a child sometimes, you know that?"

-.-.-

"Oshawott and Lillipup are ready to be returned!"

The somewhat joyful voice came through the loudspeaker about half an hour later. When it did so, everyone's eyes turned to the counter almost simultaneously, including Cheren, White and Bianca's. Grinning, White signalled to her friends that she'd be back in a moment and walked over to the counter. As soon as she stood up, all eyes turned back to their previous positions, knowing who the Pokémon belonged to.

Thanking the nurse, White placed a now slightly hyper Oshawott on her shoulder and pocketed Lillipup's pokéball, before making her way back to her friends. When she did so, Bianca turned eagerly to her and clapped her hands, gesturing to White's pocket where Lillipup's pokéball sat.

"Let's see your Lillipup, then!" she chirped in what could have been a demanding tone if her voice wasn't so happy.

Not bothering to protest, White tucked her hand into her pocket and pulled out the pokéball, before expanding it and tossing it into the air, revealing Lillipup, who was already excitedly chasing his tail. She raised an eyebrow; it was like he didn't even realise anyone around him existed.

"Calm down, boy," said White, trying to suppress laughter. Lillipup, in hearing her voice, skidded to a halt and barked excitedly at her. "Well, it didn't take you too long to get used to being a trainer's Pokémon, did it."

Before she could even finish her sentence, Lillipup was already busy chasing his tail in circles again. For a few seconds, White considered making him stand still herself. However, just when she was about to tell him to calm down, the doors of the center opened and a man ran in. Just like when the loudspeaker had announced for Pokémon to be picked up, all eyes turned to the man. He was acting like he was going to announce something to everyone. Instead, he ran up to a group of other men and almost yelled out to them. Despite it not quite reaching yelling volume, he was still loud enough for most people to hear clearly.

"Hey, guys, you'll never believe this." In front of the group, he skidded to a halt, panting slightly and obviously eager to get his news out. "There's a creepy old man with green hair standing on the stage! He says he's representing 'Team Plasma' or something. How crazy is that?"

He hadn't noticed yet, but everyone in the center, including the nurse and her Audino, were listening in on his conversation. As soon as he'd finished speaking, the people broke into confused chatters until the group of men left, causing most of the crowd to follow them. None of them seemed to realise what an uproar they'd caused.

Cheren, his arms crossed, turned his attention back to White and Bianca. "Shall we go and have a look?"

White nodded eagerly, standing up and picking Oshawott off of the seat. As she left within a thicker crowd of people, Cheren and Bianca desperately trying to keep up with her curious pacing, Lillipup trotted beside her, looking utterly confused, yet unfazed as to where everyone was going.

When they stepped outside, White wasn't sure if she was surprised or not to see a massive crowd of people gathered around a stage that could barely be seen. It hadn't seemed that there were so many people actually in the town before they were all gathered in one spot. It was like there was a concert going on, only the whispers of surrounding people were nervous and quiet. Ignoring anyone else, White pushed her way to the front, Lillipup following closely behind her, sniffing at random people's feet. When she did get to the front, the scene she saw wasn't at all what she was expecting.

It was certainly bizarre. On the stage stood a man, a ridiculously tall one at that. As soon as she stepped towards him, she felt cold, and the sudden blast of the creepy aura sent shivers down her spine. One of his eyes was a sickly grey colour, with slanted eyebrows which made him look permanently angry. His other eye was covered by a blood-red monocle, which shone bright in the sunlight. It would have been pretty if the colour wasn't somewhat terrifying. He wore robes of green, with gold patterns swirling around the fabric that had every detail that they could possibly have.

The murmurs around White only grew louder as she stood there, not able to take her eyes off of the man. Most of the conversations she could hear were completely ignoring the line of oddly-dressed knights behind the man, holding up a large banner stroked with the letter "P". Well, at least she knew that guy she'd bumped into definitely wasn't a local. Nor did he have an obscure fashion sense. The outfit was but a uniform, and an odd one at that.

But what did the "P" mean?

Then White remembered the man who'd run into the Pokémon Center before. Recalling what he'd said, she parted her lips and absentmindedly whispered, "Plasma."

She was automatically thrown from her thoughts when the man lifted his bony hand up towards his mouth and cleared his throat quietly. Though silent, it was enough to make everyone in the crowd cut their conversations short and turn their eyes quickly towards the stage. The atmosphere automatically became tenser, like the air around everyone had suddenly frozen. White gazed, lips parted, at the man, who looked completely satisfied by the attention he was getting. Lowering his arm back to his side, he spread his arms out and began to speak.

"My name is Ghetsis," he began, his face concentrating on everything he had to say. Something about his voice, though, made White want to listen to him, like his voice was drawing in her undivided attention. "I am here representing Team Plasma."

A few hasty whispers spread throughout the crowd, and so-called Ghetsis waited patiently for them to disperse.

"You're probably wondering why I am here, no?"

No one answered.

"Well, I am here to talk to you about Pokémon liberation." Again, he silenced himself, like he was expecting the crowd to speak amongst each other.

Predictably, they did, the word "Liberation?" spreading around like wildfire. White, however, didn't move. She just continued to stare.

"I'm sure you all love Pokémon, no?" His thin lips spread into an eerie smile, making White's heart leap; this man was truly terrifying.

She felt something tugging at her ponytail, and she ignored it for a moment, totally intent on finding out what Ghetsis had to say. But the tugging did not stop, and White finally gave in and turned down to see Oshawott's worried eyes looking up at her.

"What?" she hissed, making Oshawott jump back.

"Osha!" Oshawott turned her head down to the ground, where White had expected to see Lillipup. But he wasn't there. Instead, there was just empty pavement.

White suppressed a squeak as she realised that her Pokémon had run off somewhere into the crowd. "Shoot," she muttered, turning to push through the crowd and find Lillipup.

In the back of her mind, Ghetsis' voice was still there from the stage, but he was no longer her main priority. "Lillipup!" she hissed, trying to keep her voice down. No one seemed to pay attention to her, though, except the people who she was shoving out of the way trying to find her Pokémon. "Where are-?"

As soon as she looked up, White sighed with relief. Holding her Lillipup was a boy with rather odd, long, tea-green shaggy hair. He was ridiculously tall, but she wasn't paying too much attention to him. Instead, she was focussing on the relief of finding her Pokémon.

Popping up next to the boy, he didn't seem to take any notice of her. She did gain a rude stare from the man standing next to her, but that was barely noticeable. Turning her attention back to Ghetsis, her eyes became wide again and all of her hearing was focussed on him. He was pacing now, hands pocketed inside of his robes and his gaze turned down to the ground as he spoke. It was almost like he wasn't even talking to the crowd anymore, just mindlessly rambling to himself.

"Pokémon are interesting beings. They have unknown potential that we foolish humans can never understand." He clicked his tongue a few times, as if taking pity on 'foolish' humans. White found it quite ironic, as he was a human himself. "By liberating them, they can finally become… Perfect."

The way he said perfect sent yet more shivers down White's spine. He smirked afterwards, probably showing the most emotion he had since starting the talk. When he'd paced back to the centre of the stage, he turned back to the crowd, placing his hands in his lap, and bowed.

"Please, think about liberation," he requested. "Only then will Pokémon truly be their own beings. I thank you for your time."

Despite his concentration not being on them, the crowd continued to stare, open-mouthed, as Ghetsis walked between his knights, who surrounded him and marched in a protective wall beside him. His head still poked out of the top, having a significant height advantage on them. Either way, White wasn't really sure why such a man would need protection.

But as he walked, his line of sight did not stare straight ahead for the entire time. No, out of the corner of his eye, White was sure that he took a quick glance at her. Her breath caught in her throat, suddenly feeling uncomfortably scared with the situation. However, when he turned back, he didn't look back towards her. But his facial expression did change from neutral to wicked smirk.

Luckily, none of the crowd noticed, and they were all dispersing into their own smaller groups, muttering nervously amongst themselves as they tried to grasp exactly what that guy was talking about.

"Foolish humans…" White stared at her hands, not really wanting to look anywhere else. Her lips barely moved as she spoke, and her entire body was shaking. "That guy is a walking contradiction." Despite her joking, she was rather terrified at the fact that he'd gone out of his way to glance at her. Or maybe it was just her eyes tricking her. Maybe… Maybe he was looking at someone else.

Then, something hit her. "Lillipup!" she gasped, whirling around to face the boy who was holding her Pokémon. She was glad to see that he was still grasping Lillipup firmly in his arms. What she didn't expect was to see him staring at her with an oddly childish look in his eye.

As he stared at her, bright green eyes wide, he stroked a happily panting Lillipup with his free hand. He almost looked possessed, not even blinking and not seeming to breathe. If he wasn't so tall, at least a head taller than her, White would have compared him to a child more so than she already was. Around his neck was a necklace held on a long chain that resembled… An atom, maybe? If that wasn't weird, she didn't know what was.

Looking up at his face, she turned her upper lip up in a scowl and crossed her arms irritably. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," she drawled, tapping her foot impatiently.

The boy didn't seem fazed at all by her attitude. Instead, he looked down at Lillipup and smiled slightly. "This is your Pokémon?"

A little taken aback, White nodded, unable to speak with her breath caught up in her throat. He spoke almost absentmindedly, like he wasn't speaking to her at all, but rather to himself. Yet he spoke quickly, almost too quickly and quietly for White to completely understand what he was saying without having to strain her ears.

"Huh, that's nice," he continued, before suddenly turning to White, his eyes no longer wide and creepy, but somewhat curious. "My name is N."

White glared suspiciously. This situation was getting weirder and weirder. "N what?"

'N' chuckled. "Just N," he said simply, holding Lillipup out to White. She took him protectively, clutching him in her arms like he was trying to run away. Really, she just didn't want N to get his hands on him again.

"That's a weird name." Still, she didn't hesitate to be honest with him. Not like he seemed to care. "I'm White."

N chuckled. "Well, that's not the most normal name, either." He shook his head, reaching a long, thin finger out and scratching Lillipup on the ear. "Your Pokémon. He says such strange things. Can you hear him?"

White's nose crinkled. "You mean his barking?" She let out a nervous laugh. "Well, yeah, everyone ca-"

She was cut off by N shaking his head quickly.

"No, his voice." He paused, before blinking a few times, as if something had just come to mind. "Don't worry, you won't understand." With rather odd timing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pokéball with his index and middle fingers. "I want to hear your Lillipup's voice more. May I battle you?"

White, though a little taken-aback, wasn't going to say no to a challenge. "Uh, sure," she said, placing Lillipup on the ground. "One on one?"

N nodded, hurling his pokéball into the air and letting out a Purrloin, who really didn't seem that keen on battling. It simply sat on the ground, not looking up at its opponent, and licked its paw carelessly. Its long, elegant tail swayed back and forth and almost made White drowsy just by looking at it.

"Okay, we'll start this one," she said, jabbing her finger out in front of her and pointing directly at Purrloin. "Lillipup, use Tackle!"

Barking eagerly, Lillipup began charging at the Purrloin, who barely gave him a second glance. When he got close to the overly-calm cat, it had barely moved an inch. Neither had N. He just stood, leaning casually on one leg, his arms crossed and his head down, almost like he was falling asleep standing up. As he did so, his black and white baseball cap shaded his eyes, giving him an almost eerie appearance.

When Lillipup was a mere few feet from Purrloin, N finally looked up, but not at the battle. Instead, he stared right at White, a smirk planted on his face. "Purrloin, Scratch, please."

Before White could even register what was going on, the Purrloin stopped licking its paw, and instead looked menacingly at a still-charging Lillipup. The paw that it was licking was no longer just a paw. Instead, it had recently shot shining silver claws out of its toes. Like scythes, they shone in the sun, perfectly sharpened. Lillipup's eyes widened, and Purrloin slashed out at him, barely even moving a muscle other than the paw.

Lillipup yelped and leaped back, his eyes shut tight and a long slash mark down his face. Growling, he shook it off, standing back on all four legs and glaring at Purrloin, who simply glanced back with a cocky expression.

Oh, how White hated cats.

To her surprise, N laughed. "Okay, we'll play fair. Your Pokémon seems to be having fun." He clicked his fingers, and Purrloin stood up automatically, not taking a little more of a battle stance. "Purrloin, let's have another Scratch."

White gritted her teeth. "Dodge, Lillipup!" she commanded, lifting her hand up. Lillipup leaped out of the way, rolling to the side and skidding to a stop as Purrloin slashed out, digging its claws into the concrete.

She was sure she saw N flinch, almost like he was feeling the Pokémon's pain. Either way, that was the least of her worries.

"Lillipup, Tackle it in the side!"

Skidding on the concrete and scrambling back to her feet after the clean dodge, Lillipup instantly ran towards Purrloin, hitting it head-first in the side and sending it flying backwards. It let out a horrible screech, landing on its side on the ground and hissing menacingly.

White was just about to call another attack when N held his hand up, his other hand buried in his pockets. She paused in her attempts, taken-aback when N walked up to his Purrloin and picked it up, cradling it in his arms.

"W-what-?"

N shook his head, stroking Purrloin between its ears. "I think that's enough. I've heard all I want your Lillipup to say."

Lillipup cocked his head to the side, as did White, and the two both stared, dumbfounded, at the trainer before them.

Finally, White spoke. "But you can't just call off a battle half-way through!" she snapped, crossing her arms and stomping a firm foot onto the floor. "It's not how it works!"

N's face turned blank as he returned Purrloin to his pokéball. Without giving her the benefit of his eyesight, he simply answered with, "But I just did."

White's fists clenched.

He shrugged. "Besides, I've never been one for battling."

And with that comment, White completely lost it. "Freaking hell! You're irony with legs! I swear to Arceus, of all the people I could have met on my first day-" But she paused as soon as she took a glance at him. He was looking thoughtfully at the ground, staring like there was some sort of war going on down there. She couldn't take her eyes off of him. He almost looked like… A child.

"I don't think too many people took Team Plasma seriously back there…" he said, his voice getting quieter and quieter with every word. Surprisingly enough, he didn't quite sound sad, just… Disappointed? "But I did. I think they have a good point."

He seemed to have a knack for making White jump. After staring at the ground for quite some time in utter silence, he walked up to White so he was only a foot or so away from her. Staring down at her, he sighed and shook his head.

"White, was it?" he questioned.

White just nodded, anger and confusion mixing oddly inside of her stomach.

He nodded. "I get a strange vibe from you."

Of all of the things he could have said, that was _definitely _not what White was expecting.

Swiftly, N turned around, walking down the path that led out of the city. As he walked, he spoke to himself. Only, it wasn't to himself. He was still talking to her, and it was starting to get on her nerves.

"Just think about what Team Plasma said about liberating Pokémon, okay?" He didn't look back at all. Instead, he just wandered out of the city and out of her sight, thank Arceus.

White blinked, completely baffled by the scene she'd just witnessed. "Man, it was almost like he was trying to brainwash me into releasing you guys," she joked to her Pokémon, who didn't seem any less confused than she did. Rolling her eyes, she turned back towards the Pokémon Center. "Come on, let's turn in for the night."

-.-.-

**Holy muffins that was long.**

**Anyway, I had a lot to put in this chapter. I was considering just making this the chapter where White catches her Lillipup, but it seemed a bit boring when I put it into words. Besides, I feel comfortable getting the introduction of N out of the way. Ah, him and his mixed signals. Yes, Ferriswheelshipping will come eventually, but don't get too hasty. I plan on developing them to friends first. At the moment, he's just the weird-yet-adorable creeper of the story.**

**Also, happy new year! Completely off topic, but that had to be said.**

**Anyway, I decided to cut some of the N battle off. Not because I was lazy, but because I figured that, in the games, he only wants to battle you to hear your Pokémon speak. I kind of thought that he'd happily draw his Purrloin out of the battle to stop it from getting hurt. Eh, just my opinion, but that's why I cut the battle as a whole in half.**

**Next chapter might be awhile. Not sure, but I want to work on my X and Y 'fic for a bit.**

**On to the outro, thank you all for reading, and to those who favourited/followed and/or reviewed the last chapter, thanks for your support! I'll try to update ASAP since I'm on summer break now (I'm Aussie, so it's bright and sunny and way too hot here). Until then, though, thanks again!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Castle of Shadows**

**-.-.-**

**Part 1: Ideals**

**-.-.-**

**Chapter 3: Rivals**

**-.-.-**

For this part of the story, let's head back down to Nuvema Town. It was a quiet morning in the quaint little village, the adults still getting used to not having the only resident children running around. Yes, all was peaceful, not that it wasn't usually. Well, except for one of the houses, specifically the one on the bottom-left of the town. It was much more restless than the others. In front of the gate sat a mailbox, reading "The Jones Household". Living inside were Eloise; a slow-paced mother that didn't really fret with too much, Patrick; a father that was pretty much the opposite, and the usually lively Bianca.

As you can probably imagine, without the flighty blond running around, getting excited over every little detail, the household was much calmer than usual. Eloise didn't seem to notice. She just stood in the kitchen, cleaning dishes to be spick and span while softly humming to herself, not worrying about having a whining daughter run down the stairs at any moment complaining about something exceedingly childish. The only sound was the song she was humming, sometimes being broken by a squeak of one of the cloths upon the dishes. She was perfectly happy with her situation at the moment, though she would have to get used to not constantly thinking about what was best for her daughter.

The other remaining resident, Patrick, was much more concerned by the lack of his daughter's voice. He was a little more protective when it came to Bianca, and, though he'd been told many times by Eloise to calm down and allow her to be a teenager, he was still reluctant to let his little girl out of his fingertips just yet. As he walked down the stairs that morning, newspaper in hand an eyes planted on the still-oblivious Eloise, his eyes were squinted suspiciously at the lack of a certain someone.

Promptly, he made his way to the kitchen counter and placed his elbows on it, leaning his weight and completely discarding the paper. Eloise took no notice, and instead continued to wash the dishes without much more of a care in the world. Usually, she would have sighed by now, or shaken her head whenever Patrick took that stance. It had definitely occurred more than once. This time, however, she was merely trying to ignore the conversation she knew would start as much as possible for as long as possible.

Finally, Patrick asked the question she was secretly dreading. "Where's Bianca?" he asked, calmly at first, his eyes scanning the room as if she would show up out of nowhere. He stood taller and crossed his arms, staring suspiciously at his wife. "Because she went to White's for her birthday party yesterday and I haven't seen her since."

Nothing issued from Eloise except for silence. Placing a dish on the edge of the sink a little harder than she could have, she tried to break the silence and think up another conversation in the meantime, or at least find a viable excuse for their daughter's absence.

When Patrick began to pace around the room, however, she knew there was absolutely no escape. "I don't know about you," he continued, trying to avoid his teeth from gritting, "but I seem to recall a phone call from Aurea the other day. She said something about handing Pokémon out to Bianca and her friends."

Eloise coughed, gripping the cup in her hand harder and placing it frustratingly down on the sink. "And you said that would be fine." She turned around to face Patrick, standing eye-to-chin with him. Though she wasn't quite as tall as him, she never had a problem standing up to him about their daughter's freedom before. Why should she now?

Patrick nodded. "Yes, I said that. But I also said that she would have to convince me as to _why _she would be allowed to _travel _with that Pokémon." He crossed his arms, tapping a foot and waiting for the reply from Eloise.

"Oh, for goodness sake," hissed Eloise under her breath. "Give the girl a break. She's fifteen now, Pat. She doesn't need to stay cooped up in this old town." She paused, her glaring face getting harsher and harsher. "You're too restrictive. You went on a journey when you were younger than her!"

"But I knew more about the world than she did," said Patrick, clenching his fists. "I don't like the idea of her going out into the world like that. She's not ready. Why did you let _my _little girl leave without telling me?"

The tension in the room only grew tighter and tighter with every single word. It was like a thick cord was wrapped around both of their bodies, making them stiffen up and stare into each others eyes with simultaneous glares that could have sent shivers down anyone's spine.

Eloise straightened up. "_Your _little girl?" she snapped. "One: she's not little anymore. She's not a child, Pat. And two: she's also mine. Don't you think I should have an equal say in this? Aurea isn't an idiot. She wouldn't give Pokémon to people who weren't ready. Besides, she's got White and Cheren to help her. They're some of the most loyal friends out there!"

Patrick growled under his breath, now barely parting his lips as he spoke, let alone his teeth. It felt like they were glued together with superglue, and he wasn't willing to pull them apart anytime soon. "They're young, too." He turned around, walking towards the door. "I'm going to get her and she's coming straight home!"

Hesitating, Eloise leapt off of her post and gripped her husband tight on the shoulder, causing him to whorl around. Even he jumped at the venomous look she had on her face, her brown eyes nearly red with anger and her skin completely flushed.

"Look," she growled, teeth beginning to ache from being stuck together for so long, "she's barely been gone for a day. Give the girl a chance, won't you? If anything happens, she'll come straight home. If you don't let her go out into the world, what's she going to do when she gets older? She'll know nothing."

Patrick opened his mouth to retort, but Eloise kept talking even after the pause.

"I won't let her sit here alone when both of her friends are out on a journey, you hear me? Besides," She let go of Patrick's shoulder, walking back towards the kitchen, "she's got her Pokémon with her. They'll protect her."

And with that, she took her usual station at the sink, picking up the dishes again like nothing had happened. Patrick, very unhappy with the result of his argument, conceded defeat and bit his lip to stop himself from yelling. As he stomped over to the counter to grab his newspaper, he knew that Eloise was watching him out of the corner of her eye, mentally warning him not to do anything.

So he didn't. Instead, he went upstairs to read his paper, reluctant to emerge at all.

-.-.-

Back in Accumula town, around an hour after the argument, White was emerging from her bed in the Pokémon Center, stretching her body out and yawning extremely loudly. Her eyes groggy and her eyelashes sticking together in reluctance to let her eyes open entirely, she struggled to stand up, walking over to the mirror on the other side of the room.

At the foot of her bed lay Oshawott and Lillipup, both still sound asleep from the previous day. Oshawott was snoring rather loudly, mouth wide open and nose turned up into the air. Lillipup was much less of a nuisance, sleeping almost silently through the night, though White was sure he'd woken up a few times and plotted murder on the adjacent Oshawott.

Turning towards the mirror and beginning to tie her hair up, White remembered the events from the previous day. For a first day of travelling, it was certainly more memorable than she would have thought. Turns out they'd hit Accumula town at its most eventful time, and no one even saw it coming. With seeing Ghetsis and meeting N, she figured that that was a day she wouldn't forget anytime soon.

Despite this, she'd still woken up that morning in a state of complete confusion. What with waking up in a strange place that she'd never stepped foot in before with two Pokémon at the foot of her bed, she almost fell out of bed due to the shock. What stopped her was seeing Oshawott's pokéball lying on her bedside table, then proceeding to hear the snores of said Pokémon at the end of her bed. At the time, she'd been completely relieved, though she still had a strange sense of insecurity running through her veins due to being in an unfamiliar place.

Even so, she wasted no time getting changed into her usual attire and waking up her two Pokémon, ready for her second day of being a trainer. More excited than ever now that she was certain everything was completely real, she skipped over to her hat and almost slammed it down on her head, struggling to pull her clumpy ponytail through the back of it.

When she turned to her bag to pick it up, she noticed that it was vibrating before her, rumbling with what White assumed to be her X-transceiver. Sighing at the fact that her leaving was slightly delayed, she dug through the messy array of items until she saw the device, pulling it out and smiling once she saw her mother's face on the screen.

Flicking it on, she pulled it around her wrist and secured it as the call initiated. "Morning, Mum," she greeted, voice happier than her mother had ever heard. It was a pleasant surprise knowing that her daughter was at least having a decent time away from home.

"Morning," she replied, smiling a little. "How was your first day?"

White beamed, remembering the events of the previous day. "Awesome!" she announced, punching her other fist in the air. "I caught a Lillipup, see?"

With that, Lillipup, who had previously been sitting next to her, amused by the moving screen, popped his head up and gave a small yap of confusion. He turned his head to the side as the image of the other human chuckled under her breath. At least White didn't seem to be disturbed by it, so the device must be okay.

"How cute," Allison chimed, grinning at the sight. "It's always good catching your first Pokémon. Just make sure to take care of him, okay? How's Oshawott doing?"

With that, the water-type's head popped into Allison's vision and let out a cry of, "Osha!" expressing her eagerness.

"I think you can tell by that." White laughed, ruffling the short hairs on Oshawott's head. "She's doing fine. A little clumsy, but fine." Unexpectedly, she then glared at her Pokémon, who, along with Allison, seemed a little taken-aback. "She snores _really _loudly though. Seriously, I can't imagine how Bianca puts up with Tepig if my Pokémon snores like that."

Oshawott, though still a little shocked by the glare she'd been given, was a little relieved that she hadn't done anything wrong that was within her power to stop. She was a little embarrassed, though, knowing that White had had to put up with her all night.

Allison sighed. "Well, I'm sure you'll get used to it."

"Oh, don't worry, it's all worth it," White assured, waving her hands in the air defensively. "She's cute and strong-willed. Pretty much what I wanted in a partner."

"Well, that's good." Then came the question White had been secretly dreading. "So, did you meet any new people?"

Her heart thumped uncomfortably, and she was sure that her mother would be able to see it. Luckily, she showed no reaction to it, proving that she'd over-analysed the scene in her head. Unfortunately, the question had still been asked. How did she tell her mother that she'd met a creepy, green-haired weirdo that wanted her to release all of her Pokémon? Quite simply, she didn't. If she did, Allison probably would have called her home that instant. If she'd met someone that weird in probably the quietest city in all of Unova aside from her hometown, that would prove terrible vibes for her journey ahead.

Speaking of vibes…

"_I get a strange vibe from you."_

Yeah, N definitely wasn't someone she wanted to tell her mother about.

"Well, unless you count Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center, then no, not really." She tried to sound a little disappointed, hiding the fact that she was lying as best as she could. Luckily, Allison didn't seem at all suspicious by her answer. Though she did seem a little disappointed.

"Oh, that's a shame." She shrugged. "So be it, though. I was looking forward to hearing about the people you meet, but I guess I'll have to be a little more patient." She laughed, suddenly merry with the situation again. "So, you're headed for Striaton today?"

Secretly relieved to have a different conversation lead, White nodded. "Yeah, I'm not going to hang around. Nothing much goes on here."

And she wasn't sure if she could look at that stage again without fainting from the sickly aura that Ghetsis had left on it.

"Fair enough," said Allison. "Well, I'll let you be on your way. Be good, okay?"

White grinned, winking playfully. "Will do."

Allison smiled, though she did have an uncertain look about her. "Don't get into too much trouble. I know what you can be like sometimes. Call me if anything comes up."

Laughing, White placed a finger on the hang-up button on her X-transceiver. "You have no faith in me, Mum."

Allison glared.

"Alright, alright, I'll talk to you later." Slightly exasperated, White hung up before her mother could get another word in, turning the device off and swinging her bag over her shoulder. Grinning excitedly, she turned her attention to her two Pokémon. "Okay, gang, let's head out."

-.-.-

The first thing White noticed about Route 2 was that it was much livelier than Route 1 had been. Instead of just cowardly wild Pokémon populating it, the route was overrun with young trainers, many of them battling with another, possibly livelier trainer. Most of their Pokémon were generic; a Lillipup or Patrat, and maybe a Purrloin here and there. Because of this, White felt slightly out of place with an Oshawott on her shoulder, but everyone was so immersed in their own battles that no one seemed to notice.

Beside her, Lillipup trotted along, glad to be outside in the open again. Everything he walked past, whether it be a flower or a rock, he would give a tentative sniff, sometimes jumping back if the smell was a little too strong for his liking. Due to the events of the previous day, White was keeping a close eye on him, not wanting to have him run away again. In such an open space, it would be hard to find him, and some other trainer could mistake him for a wild Pokémon.

Luckily for her, most people ignored her. Or she'd managed to avoid their eye-contact completely. She didn't really feel like battling any of them, most of them being rowdy boys that only looked about ten years of age. Besides that, she spent most of her concentration on avoiding wild Purrloin that tried to steal things from her bag, whether or not they knew exactly what was in there.

It wasn't until around half way through the route, about an hour into her walk, that anything interesting happened. She was glad, too. She'd hoped that she wouldn't have to make her way to Striaton without anything interesting happening on the two hour walk. Of course, that interesting thing was an overexcited Bianca, rushing up the path with her Tepig at her heals. White wasn't sure how she'd expected anything less.

"White!" the blond screeched, as if White hadn't just blatantly turned around and waved vigorously. Bianca, despite clearly seeing White react to her, obviously had to make sure she'd been seen, if not by everyone on the route, whose eyes had all glanced at her at least once.

Oh, well, at least Bianca's voice was a somewhat relieving break from all of the commands trainers were giving their Pokémon, followed by the thuds of a Tackle or Scratch attack. To be honest, White thought the consistency of it all was a little annoying. With all of the trainers practicing to go for the Striaton Gym badge on one, relatively small route when it came down to things, the usually quaint environment was now loud and energetic.

"Hey, Bianca." White couldn't help but grin as her friend skidded to a halt in front of her, placing her hands on her knees and panting. Beside her, Tepig was taking pretty much the same stance, nose turned to the ground and hot breath pushing out of his nose, occasionally followed by a tiny ember.

Apparently, Bianca was extremely excited (who would have guessed?) at the prospect of seeing White, and as soon as she stood up straight and laid her dark green eyes on White's dark blue ones, she pointed a finger right at her nose and glared. "I challenge you to a battle!"

Well, White couldn't say she'd expected her friend to be so mature about asking for a battle. She'd more expected her to whine and beg for one. But no, her friend was in front of her, practically _demanding _a battle. Because of this, she turned to face Lillipup. How could she possibly say "no"?

Seeing her immediate reaction, Bianca let out a "Whoop!" and punched the air. "Yeah! Let's get this battle started!"

As White backed off to the other side of the designated area in which they would battle, Bianca carelessly fumbled around in her bag in search of her pokéball, wherever she'd put it. Typical Bianca; completely unorganised. Tepig could only stare up at her with a blank expression on his face as his trainer tried to find her other Pokémon.

"Aha! Got it!" she said victoriously, tossing it into the air to reveal the Lillipup she'd supposedly captured the previous day.

Lillipup versus Lillipup…

This would be interesting.

White wasn't sure how strong Bianca's Lillipup was, but on the way through Route 2 her own had learned Bite while fending off a particularly aggressive Purrloin. Because of the battle with N, the puppy took battling a little more seriously, especially since he'd earned three permanent claw scars down his face from battling his Purrloin. At least White would be able to tell him apart from Bianca's Lillipup.

"Okay, just remember, mine's the one with the facial scars!" called White, gesturing towards her own Pokémon. Bianca nodded, though she did look a little disturbed by the marks, wondering where on Earth Lillipup could have gotten them from, having not seen White's half-battle with N.

Despite this, she didn't let it put her off. Being a trainer took focus, and focus she must. "Lillipup, use Tackle!"

Kicking up dust as she leaped into the air, Bianca's Lillipup skidded off the ground, the earth slightly unstable due to the thick layer of dust on top of it. Half way through the attack, she'd regained footing and figured out a way to run on such odd turf, though White's Lillipup was no less ready.

"Lillipup, dodge, and then use Bite!"

Hearing the command, White's Lillipup opened his mouth, baring his teeth and readying the attack that would be used after he leaped out of the way. Skidding to the side, having slipped uneasily on the unfamiliar ground, he executed a small roll before sliding to a halt beside the opponent and charging off of the ground, biting his teeth down on Bianca's Lillipup's flesh.

The opponent let out a yelp of surprise, flinching before the attack even landed. When White's Lillipup let go, her eyes were still shut tight out of the action. White quickly saw this as an opportunity, deciding to take it before it was over.

"Knock it over with Tackle!" she ordered, glancing over at a dismayed Bianca.

Still unable to dodge due to shock, Bianca's Lillipup was pushed to the side from the head-first Tackle. However, this brought her back into reality, and Bianca, quick to the action, called out for her to use her own Tackle, which she carried out well and managed to land her first hit on White's Lillipup.

However, it only took one more Bite from him for the opponent to faint, though shock probably contributed to that more than damage as a whole. Bianca's mouth fell open, and she returned her Pokémon without hesitation. Jumping, White's Lillipup returned to his trainer, bounding to her side and welcoming the scratch behind the ears she was giving him.

"Unlucky, B.," said White, as Oshawott jumped to the ground. "Remember that Bite can make a Pokémon flinch. I didn't actually know that until this morning, but hey, the more you know." She grinned, gesturing down to Oshawott. "Starter on starter?"

Bianca, though slightly disappointed at her previous loss, didn't complain. "Alright, even though I'll have a type disadvantage…" She trailed off before the end, but her voice rose again in her next statement. "But we'll do our best anyway, won't we, Tep?"

Snorting confidently, Tepig blew a few small embers out of his nose and leaped into battle, joining Oshawott in death-staring each other.

"_We meet again, rival," _said Oshawott, though all the humans behind them heard was something like, "Osha! Oshawott osh!"

Tepig grunted. "_You know it. First proper battle I guess." _Anticipation growing, he blew more embers out of his nose, though the action was slightly stronger and more threatening now. Or, it would have been if Oshawott wasn't practically immune to fire.

"_You'll need more than a few petty flames to get rid of me_." Oshawott grinned, trying to put a menacing look on her usually adorable face, but failing to intimidate her opponent in the slightest.

With their conversations, Oshawott almost didn't hear White's yell of, "Oshawott, use Water Gun!"

With a slight head-start on hearing the command, Tepig was ready to dodge the fluent stream of water that was being shot his way. Despite usually being absolutely terrified of water as a whole, when it came to Oshawott, the determination burned in his nose was so heated that he barely even raised a brow at it.

"Tepig, use Tackle!" called Bianca, not as hesitant as she'd previously been. She had to stay cool, calm, and collected. That's what real trainers did, she thought.

Oshawott, still being in the middle of recovering from Tepig's sudden jump, hadn't quite figured out where the attack was coming from, and the pig slammed head-first into her and knocked her backwards.

"_Ack!" _Oshawott skidded backwards on the dirt, her entire lower half getting covered in dust. Tepig snorted at her reaction noise, ready for anything that could come his way. Though he wouldn't normally be this determined, fighting either Oshawott or Snivy was a different story.

"_I hit her! I Hit her_!" Tepig jumped in the air, landing back on the ground and kicking up a pile of dust with his front hooves. Hearing Bianca's command to use Ember, he didn't even consider the consequences of such a move before diving into action, planting his hooves into the ground and blowing a flurry of embers out of his nostrils.

The collection of tiny flames cut through the air like torpedoes, headed straight for Oshawott. Quickly, almost out of reflex, the otter shot a stream of water out of her mouth in response. Though the attack wouldn't hurt her too much, she still remembered the professor scolding Tepig as a piglet and telling him not to play with fire. Back then, he was much less experienced, and his embers tended to go anywhere they wanted to go.

Luckily, White had called for a Water Gun, too, so she wasn't disobeying orders. As the two attacks collided, a small wisp of steam emitted from where they clashed. Almost as soon as they had appeared, the embers were dying back down again, knocked back by the water. Oshawott didn't have to push her attack too hard; fire already beat water. It was a simple concept in its own, and because of that she could trust type-matchups rather than power alone.

Closing his eyes and forcing the embers out harder, Tepig began skidding backwards from the force. Though he already knew his efforts would be futile no matter how hard the attack was, he still couldn't just give up. _Come on…_ he thought, eyes shut so tight they were beginning to hurt.

Then, his entire body went cold as the enemy's attack hit him. Wheezing, he flew backwards, his hooves still dug into the ground and making small lines where they had skidded.

"_Payback!" _He heard Oshawott yell from what seemed like a mile away. His ears were filled with water and all he could manage to shoot from his nose was a bit of pitiful smoke.

When he looked up, Oshawott was already charging at him, and he meant to dodge. When he tried to, he realised that his hooves had sunk into mud sometime during the Water Gun attack. The breath left his lungs when he was hit by the Tackle, and he smashed into the tree behind him, sliding on the ground and fainting instantly.

Oshawott stood over him, her paws on her hips and her head held high in triumph.

White laughed and punched the air, rushing up to her Pokémon and picking her up. "Sorry, Bianca! Not this time!"

Bianca giggled at her comment, picking up Tepig and cradling him in her arms. "Wow, you're tough!" she exclaimed, not even seeming disappointed by her loss. "The Pokémon on both sides tried really hard. I think that was the strongest Ember Tepig has ever shown me."

White smiled, placing Oshawott on her shoulder and pulling her bag to the front of her. Digging around in it, she pulled out a purple spray bottle and handed it to Bianca; a potion.

Bianca stared at it for a moment, a little hesitant to take it from White. "Oh, but…"

White shook her head. "It's the least I can do. It won't make Tepig able to fight, but it'll maybe put him in a little less pain until we get to Striaton." Seeing the look on Bianca's face, she pushed the potion towards her, cupping it in her hands. "My mum gave me tonnes. It's fine, really."

Hearing the demanding tone to the last line, Bianca nodded and began to spray the wounds of her Tepig with the medicine. "Thanks," she said, trying to sound as grateful as possible.

She jumped as Tepig stirred, eyes opening as he looked around him.

"Tep?" he questioned, looking up to see Bianca.

"Oh, it worked!" she said excitedly. "This stuff is awesome!"

White held up a finger to silence her. "Remember; don't battle him until we get him healed properly. He's not fit for it," she said matter-of-factly. When she revised on what she said, she placed her forehead in her palm. "Oh, Arceus, I sound like Cheren."

-.-.-

Striaton City wasn't much different from Accumula Town. The apartment buildings were just as big, and the place was just as crowded. That is, not very big or crowded. For a city, Striaton was very small.

A sign at the front of the city read, "Striaton City: A town of fine cuisine". The words made White's stomach growl aggressively just by reading it. As the sign indicated, the town was filled with restaurants and tourists or travellers wanting to eat at those restaurants, and White and Bianca were happy to be part of that crowd.

"We should get Cheren to eat with us," said White as the two walked out of the Pokémon Center, their Pokémon newly healed and inside their pokéballs.

"Agreed," chirped Bianca. She was much happier since they'd taken a break inside the center for a bit. All the way to the city, White had to listen to Bianca complain about her feet being sore. Needless to say, they were both glad when they finally got to sit down.

Complaining or not, it was good to have Bianca around. White had to admit, though she had her Pokémon, travelling up uneventful routes with no one to talk to was relatively boring. Having Bianca around naturally lightened the mood, even if they didn't do anything but talk.

"Pretty vicious Purrloin, eh."

White raised a brow at Bianca's statement. "What?" She was completely puzzled, though something in the back of her head was telling her not to be; that the answer was easy.

When Bianca clarified, she wondered why she hadn't realised in the first place. "You know, the one that gave your Lillipup that scar."

Oh, _that _Purrloin.

"I mean, it would have to be pretty vicious for a wild Pokémon to give a trainer's Pokémon a scar for life."

White gulped when Bianca said the word "wild". The Purrloin that had left the scar was much less than wild. Bianca, however, wasn't there for the battle.

Deciding to try to end the conversation, White laughed awkwardly in response. "Oh, yeah, pretty vicious." Turning her head quickly towards the building in front of her, she began to walk unnecessarily fast towards it. "C'mon. Cheren will surely be inside the Trainers' School."

White had never been to a school. Her mother had taught her all she really needed to know up until she was fourteen and a half. It seemed odd for her to actually go to school to learn how to be a trainer. Everything she'd experienced so far was general knowledge. Or she'd learned how to do it during the encounter, like battle. But everything from catching Pokémon to caring for them was basically hammered into her brain since childhood.

Either way, Cheren wasn't going to pass up knowledge on whatever he could grab. White knew him too well to think otherwise. Because of this, when she stepped through the doors of the school to see the navy-haired boy writing down notes from a blackboard, she wasn't at all surprised. Surrounding her as she walked up to him were lines of tables, the occasional one with an up-and-coming trainer sitting on one, viciously scribbling down information. A few of them were staring at Cheren with overly curious eyes. Some of them even looked completely fascinated.

"Looks like Cheren has a fan club," White whispered into Bianca's ear. The girl beside her giggled at the fact that Cheren seemed oblivious to the fact that he was being stared at by half-a-dozen ten-year-olds.

"It's probably because he's a real trainer," she muttered back, before she let out another stream of giggles. "I wonder if they know he only became one yesterday."

White shrugged, before approaching Cheren and tapping him on the shoulder. Apparently, he was completely absorbed in his work (unsurprisingly) as when he felt White's finger on his shoulder, he leaped back and dropped the book. White saw, out of the corner of her eye, a few of the children jumping back too. Before Cheren could notice their staring, they quickly turned their eyes back to their work.

_Slick, _thought White, snickering quietly at the students. Half of them looked terrified.

"Dammit…" Cheren groaned as if some annoying presence had just invaded his personal space. Whether or not White and Bianca counted as annoying presences was questionable. When he did pick up his notebook, he turned to them, before glaring right in their faces.

"You made me drop my book," he grumbled. When usually-calm Cheren was in studying-mode, rather than just getting irritated, he would actually get angry.

White tapped his glasses, making him flinch back. "Good observation, smartass."

Cheren scowled, though he seemed to be taking the situation a little more lightly now. "Well, you're going to have to battle me as punishment, you know." He pulled out a pokéball from his pocket and tossed it in the air casually, catching it again and smirking.

"You're terrible at looking dangerous." White laughed, pulling out Oshawott's pokéball. "Do you still have that Purrloin?"

His other hand now in his pocket, Cheren shook his head. "Nah, it went running off. I think it was looking for food."

Bianca looked curious. "Do you think it will come back?"

Cheren shrugged. "We'll find out sooner or later."

He turned, beginning to walk towards the back of the building. White didn't question this, she just followed at his heels. She'd assumed at the start that they'd just battle on the streets of Striaton. No one seemed to have a problem with it. Back in Accumula, anyway.

It wasn't just her, Cheren and Bianca that found themselves in front of a small battlefield behind the school. Instead, White had heard numerous scuttles of feet behind her. When she turned around, a dozen or so school students were gathered around to watch the battle. Her heart leaped uncontrollably; she didn't think they would have spectators.

Shaking her head, she focussed on the scene in front of her. She had to admit; she hadn't expected there to be a battlefield outside of the school. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure how she hadn't expected it. It seemed reasonable for the students to practice battling on a battlefield, after all.

"One on one?" called Cheren from the other side, holding up his pokéball. "Since I only have Snivy so far?"

White nodded, ignoring the various "ooh's" that came from behind her. "Sounds good."

Adrenaline filled every ounce of her body as she threw Oshawott's pokéball into the air. It was a much tenser battle than Bianca's, which was just a bit of fun, so she was a lot more determined, especially with an audience. The children's eyes burned into her back, never trailing off of her and the space around her. As soon as Oshawott and Snivy appeared on the field, however, their eyes darted to the Pokémon.

Though he was quite far away, White was sure she saw Cheren shift his weight uncomfortably and raise an eyebrow. "Oshawott?" he said. "But you knew I was using Snivy…" He trailed off, clenching his fists and smirking. "This'll be easy, then."

White glared, her heart pounding faster. "Don't be too sure," she muttered, just loud enough so only Bianca, who was standing behind her, could hear them.

Not hesitating at all, Cheren raised a hand, pointing at Oshawott. "Snivy, use Vine Whip!"

Almost too quickly to see, Snivy leaped into the air as vines erupted from his arms. Like green Ekans, they flew through the air, wavering slightly, straight at Oshawott, who stood her ground firmly.

"Dodge, Oshawott!"

As Snivy forced the vines down on Oshawott, she leaped out of the way, causing the attack to slam into the ground. A cloud of dust and debris exploded out of the ground, and Oshawott had to spin out of the way in order to avoid getting her eyes filled with it. She landed on the ground and whorled back around to face her opponent, whose green form was slightly curtained with the dust cloud.

Snivy, face still calm and smug, retracted the vines almost as quickly as he'd expelled them. He'd flinched slightly when they'd hit the ground, the pain from the vines scurrying towards him and hurting his own arms. His vines were apart of him; if they got hurt, he got hurt.

Shutting his eyes and waiting for his trainer's next command, he heard Oshawott's high-pitched voice from across the field. When he looked up, she was sticking her tongue out childishly.

"_Missed me!" _she sang, wagging her tail in a beckoning manner.

_She's only trying to provoke me,_ he thought to himself. She'd been doing that since they were babies. Staring at her, he shook his head and rolled his eyes. "_Such a child._"

Oshawott didn't seem bothered at all by his response. Instead, she took her trainer's command of using Tackle and kicked off the ground, charging at Snivy. He looked at her, never taking his half-lidded eyes off of his tiny form. She seemed too fragile to fight, but maybe that was just because he'd seen her as a kid.

He smirked; she seemed to enjoy it.

Hearing Cheren's command for a Tackle of his own, he used his tail to propel himself off of the ground and leap head-first at Oshawott. His mind was totally connected with his trainer. Though he knew he could have just used a Vine Whip and grabbed Oshawott, stopping her in her tracks, he didn't question his trainer's motives.

When his Pokémon was close enough to the opponent, Cheren yelled out, "Snivy, roll to the side, then use Vine Whip!"

Seeing Oshawott's eyes widen was somewhat satisfying to Snivy. She was surprised; that was what he'd been aiming for. He swiftly rolled to the side, causing Oshawott to stumble to a halt and almost fall over. She skidded slightly as he watched her out of the corner of his eye. Not even turning, he shot the vines out of his arms again and wrapped them around her. They made a small whipping sound as they gripped her.

"_Hey, put me down!" _she snapped, squirming, though her efforts were futile.

"_Nah, don't feel like it._" Snivy tightened the vines slightly, causing her to groan. _"This isn't kids' play anymore."_

Oshawott grunted, trying hard to break through the vines, but obviously failing. Snivy looked up to see White panicking slightly. Not obviously, but he could see it in her eyes and her slightly-open mouth. Her fingers were fidgeting together, and she occasionally closed her mouth to bite her lip.

"Keep the hold, Snivy!" called Cheren. Snivy nodded. He knew what Cheren was doing; trying to see if White would come up with a way to get out of the bind.

Over-so-slightly, he tightened the vines.

White could only stare, her mind entirely blank. Cheren wasn't doing anything. Why wasn't he doing anything? She couldn't think at all, and her lip was beginning to hurt from biting it.

Biting…

"Oshawott, bite the vines! As hard as you can!"

Cheren's eyes widened, not in shock, but in curiosity. He'd expected White to try to use a move in order to get Oshawott out. Apparently not, she was just using her resources.

Snivy automatically gritted his teeth as she felt the pain shoot down the vine. Oshawott had just managed to reach her head down and clench her teeth down on the vines, which were practically like arm extensions so Snivy.

_Mustn't let go_, he thought, though his head was getting foggy. Even though at the moment they were probably his best asset, they could also serves as his weakness. The vines, surprisingly, were extremely sensitive.

Sighing frustratingly, he quickly drew the vines back, dropping Oshawott on the ground. He wouldn't be able to use them again; they would have to heal properly first. When he looked up out of his daze, he saw a thick stream of water shooting right at him, and though it wasn't a strong type-matchup again him, the attack was close enough to push him back into the wall.

"Tackle, Oshawott!"

Though it wasn't strong, that attack was what Cheren and Snivy had to look out for.

As he was hit by Oshawott's surprisingly hard head, Snivy's vision went blurry and, though he did so reluctantly, he fell into a dead faint.

"_Take that, rival!" _cheered Oshawott as White picked her up and hugged her.

White turned to Cheren, who walked up to Snivy and sprayed him with a potion. Snivy looked up at him weakly, ashamed at his failure. To his surprise, Cheren smiled and patted him on the head.

"You did well," he said, before turning his attention to White. He approached her with a smirk on his face. "Looks like I underestimated you this time. I'll be sure not to go easy on you next time we battle."

White nodded, her eyes confident. Underneath her skin, however, she was all-too relieved. She held out a hand, and Cheren took it firmly. "I look forward to it."

It felt odd to her shaking her friend's hand. Usually, after they competed at something, they would argue for awhile afterwards, generally accusing the other person of cheating multiple times. This time, however, White figured it was a good sport to shake hands with her opponent if the battle was a more serious situation.

Oshawott turned to Snivy and grinned excitedly. "_I beat you!_"

Snivy shook his head. "_I noticed."_

To his surprise, Oshawott held out a paw to his leafy arms. He stared at it for a moment, unsure of what to do. He'd never shaken hands with her when they were kids, but he supposed that, in this situation, it couldn't hurt to. He held out his own arm and, though neither of them had fingers, shook her paw (Which was more of them wiggling their arms up and down with their hands touching).

"_It gets serious now, rival._" Oshawott's eyes turned steely.

Snivy, too, was determined. He usually wouldn't challenge Oshawott or Tepig, but he didn't hesitate to say, "_Bring it on."_

-.-.-

**It's shorter than the previous two, but I didn't want to throw anything else into this chapter.**

**Anyway, I told you I had ideas for the whole Bianca's dad thing. This was the first major case of things I couldn't fit into the old version, even if it is just an extra scene. It will change the future of the story a little. It's still just a sub-plot, though, but the bigger things will come later.**

**This was sort of the chapter where I got to practice writing battle scenes. I enjoy writing them, just not when both Pokémon only know two attacking moves. I try to put a little detail into them so it's not just "X attacks Y, Y faints and gets called back," etc. I'm still getting there, though.**

**Also, I realised in the last version that White never contacts her mother. I fixed that in this chapter, and her mum will become a recurring character rather than just that one scene at the beginning.**

**In terms of the Pokémon talking to each other, I'm not going to do that with every battle. I like the idea of the starter trio having a little rivalry with each other, having probably grown up together. Now that they can actually battle, they can finally take that rivalry further. Because of that, I decided to show their little conversations during the battle rather than just focussing on what's happening on the outside.**

**Of course, all the trainers hear are rambling Pokémon cries, but none of them really pay attention to that.**

**Anywho, thank you to the people who have reviewed and favourited/followed so far. And, as always, thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Castle of Shadows**

**-.-.-**

**Part 1: Ideals**

**-.-.-**

**Chapter 4: White's First Badge**

**-.-.-**

"_N?"_

An uncomfortable breeze flowed through the bushes on Route 2. The grass beneath the young trainer's feet swayed slightly, flickering like tiny green flames on the ground. Because of it, N barely noticed the voice below him, though he knew perfectly well that the being was there. Instead of acknowledging it, he continued to walk, hands in pockets, head pointed forward, eyes barely moving at all as he scanned the surroundings. The forests, the trees, and even the occasional bark of a Lillipup or chipper of a Patrat. It was all beautiful to him.

The source of the voice didn't seem bothered by N's failure to reply to him. He continued to trot, black, pointed nose to the ground and beady eyes looking ahead. Every-so-often, he would have to dodge the trainer's careless footsteps to avoid being squished. His trainer was often careless, especially in the state he was in now. He looked up again, gazing at his trainer's face. In his head, which had taken a bit of a wander since he'd called upon N, he imagined a hundred minimized Beautifly fluttering around in his shaggy hair. Perhaps they thought it was a nest, or a tree. His hair was bushy, after all, much thicker and longer than most normal people's in this day and age.

Snorting, the fox shook his head, his ears flapping around him, red hair on his neck tickling his back. Being a Zorua was annoying in more ways than one. He had to constantly avoid civilisation, hiding in the shadows from anyone that may pass. If he made himself too known, he would be swarmed upon. Zorua were rare, and if anyone even glanced at the black, fox-like form, they would at least widen their eyes and take a second glance. That, and the fact that he was covered in a decently thick layer of black, bushy hair made warm weather about twice as warm for him. This made travelling a pain, and since they'd left that castle, N had planned on travelling. A lot, apparently. And that would mean that Zorua could no longer stay in an air-conditioned room and lounge around all day.

He looked back up at his trainer, eyes wide and nose twitching. _Did he even hear me, or is he just ignoring me? _The question circled through his head multiple times, though he couldn't quite get a handle on it. Deciding to test the theory that N wasn't listening at all, he barked the word out much louder. _"N!"_

N didn't even jump. He just continued to walk, never even twitching his head to look down at Zorua. Yes, he hadn't even heard his own name. This was a state N went into quite a bit; the absentminded state where anything and everything to do with nature was especially beautiful. He was probably worse than a teenage girl when it came to fussing over things, though those things were usually trees or wild Pokémon that he heard say something interesting. Of course, he was too immersed in them to notice when his own Pokémon said something.

Gritting his teeth and snarling slightly, Zorua decided to take matters into his own paws. Trotting a little faster for a few paces before breaking into a run, he galloped over a few metres ahead of him and skidded to a halt, standing right in the path that N would surely have to step on eventually. When he did, he'd see Zorua standing there, possibly leaping on his paws a little bit out of sheer impatience.

Instead, N just stepped over the pathetic excuse for a roadblock.

_Oh, for Arceus- _Zorua paused in his thoughts, glaring at the figure as he continued to walk ahead of him. The sun was in front of him, making him seem more like a silhouette to Zorua, whose eyes were more accustomed to the dark than anything, and his smell beat the rest of his senses out of the park.

N had been absentminded before. Part of the strange boy was always absentminded. But never like this. If a Pokémon needed him, he would almost always go completely out of his way to help it. Zorua just _had _to be the exception for that rule. If an injured Patrat or abandoned Purrloin staggered out of the bushes right at that moment, he would have dropped to his knees straight away and fawned over the Pokémon like it was his own.

If Zorua tripped over, he'd probably just give him a pat on the head and be on his way.

Maybe it was because he saw Zorua how most humans would see a human friend. They were always together, Zorua generally acting as a voice of reason for N when no one else could. Of course, it hadn't come naturally. If he hadn't been raised by N, he probably wouldn't have given him a second glance. That is, unless he'd somehow realised that he could understand Pokémon like they were speaking fluent English, and no matter how much he tried, Zorua definitely couldn't say anything but a series of barks and howls.

In the end, he had to rush up behind N and nip him on the ankle in order to catch his attention entirely. When he did so, the boy looked down and stared, still with an absentminded look in his eyes, almost like he couldn't care less about the small bite on his ankle.

"Ow." The word was quiet and filled with the least feeling Zorua had ever heard. "You needed something? You should have called sooner." Smiling slightly, N bent down and stroked Zorua between the ears. Despite wanting to be reluctant about it, the fox couldn't deny it felt good; he liked being scratched between the ears. N knew that better than anyone.

Instead of resisting like his brain was telling him to do, he ended up nuzzling his head further into the palm of the trainer's hand, causing a soft chuckle to slip between N's lips. When he drew his hand back, Zorua looked up, black eyes wide and his tail flicking back and forth. N stayed on his knees, getting as close as possible to eye-level with the Pokémon. His elbow was rested on his elevated knee, and his eyes were now more concerned than ever.

"_I called awhile ago." _Zorua couldn't help but growl slightly. Of course, if there were any passers-by, growls and yips were all they would have heard. There had been multiple times where strangers had given the two odd looks in the midst of their conversations. Zorua wasn't sure if it was because he was a rare Pokémon, or because the human in front of him was acting like he could talk to him. It could have been both, but he usually didn't consider this until N rose to his feet again and continued walking like talking to Pokémon was a common thing.

"Oh, sorry," said N, twisting a strand of hair in-between his fingers. "I didn't hear you."

"_I can see that_." Zorua backed up a little, sitting down on a slightly softer bit of earth. "_I've been meaning to ask; why did you take such an interest in that girl_?"

N seemed to hesitate for a split second. That proved Zorua's point entirely. N didn't usually hesitate. "I-I did not," he spat, trying to seem offended but overall failing miserably. "I took interest in her Lillipup, that's all." He stood up suddenly, flicking his ponytail behind his head and folding his arms defensively.

"_Oh, I'm so convinced,_" drawled Zorua sarcastically. He raised a brow, beckoning N to tell the truth, though that probably wouldn't come without some serious convincing. "_I know that look when I see it. Well, actually, I've never seen it before, and that's the point. You never take interest in random humans. Never. Especially trainers."_

"I did not, N repeated, turning his nose into the air.

Zorua couldn't help but grin. "_You did. She has a lot of strange vibes, doesn't she?"_

Well, there was no escaping that one.

N looked down at Zorua, who was now sporting a devious smirk. He was a jokester; N knew that much, but sometimes he went a little too far. Strange vibes. Who the heck would say…?

He paused.

"Oh."

Zorua's eyes squinted more, the smile still plastered onto his face, tight enough to show off his top canine teeth. N's eye twitched. He _had _found her interesting… The look in her eyes when her Pokémon was lost. She seemed utterly horrified. And the relief of finding him again. Even if she could have been a little nicer about their encounter, he still couldn't help but find her interesting.

Even so, the slight harshness wasn't surprising. All humans had turnoffs. And if her turnoff wasn't being horrible to Pokémon – a usually large turnoff – then it must have been her general negativity. The Lillipup was just as interesting as her, though. When he'd seen his trainer, he'd suddenly been happy.

"_White! White! White's back!"_

And then she'd taken hold of him again.

"_White! I missed you!"_

No Pokémon he'd ever seen had been that happy to see a trainer. That's not what he'd been told. Trainers were foolish people, using innocent Pokémon to do their bidding. What other explanation was there to that? Well, apparently there was White. Perhaps there were exceptions to that rule?

Or maybe it was just an act…

"_N!"_

He snapped out of his thoughts as Zorua barked up at him. When he looked down, he was expecting to see the same look on the fox's face as had previously been shown. Instead, however, he saw more of a worried look. Zorua's ears twitched, no longer smiling or snarling.

"_Are you okay?" _He didn't wait for an answer. "_Anyway, what did you mean by that? Getting a strange vibe?"_

N hesitated for a moment. "I'm not sure." He sighed. "She just seemed… Different." He shook his head. "But I was probably wrong. All trainers are the same. She was putting on an act." Placing his hands on his hips, he nodded confidently, before continuing to walk along the route with a somewhat more confident stride.

Zorua blinked, turning his head to the side as he stared at the boy before him. After a few moments, he shook his head and began to trot along in his path. _Well she's a damn good actor then,_ he mused.

-.-.-

As White, Bianca and Cheren exited the Trainers' School (having successfully avoided a dozen wannabe trainers asking for autographs), they walked in complete silence. White and Cheren, completely exhausted from their battle, were still clutching their Pokémon in their arms. Bianca, much less tired, was skipping merrily in front of them, skidding to a halt occasionally and waiting for them to catch up, though she usually seemed impatient doing so. She found it hard to stand still for even a few moments, and she tended to tap her foot or jog on the spot for the time where she was forced to wait.

It wasn't too long before White heard purring at her feet. She ignored it for a few moments, figuring she could have just been hearing things. When she eventually noticed a considerable lack of Cheren standing next to her, she paused in her walking and turned on her heel. Behind her, the spectacled boy was kneeling down, smiling as he stroked the very same Purrloin that had been following him around previously on the head.

"Is that-?" White paused when Cheren picked the cat up and nodded.

"She only went to look for food," he said. The Purrloin let out a soft, "Meow," and licked her paw. Cheren chuckled. "I didn't think she would come back, but hey." He shrugged, placing the Purrloin back on the ground again.

"Will she let you catch her yet?" Bianca had come running back as soon as she realised she was no longer being followed.

"Don't think so," said Cheren. "I'm not going to catch her if she doesn't want to be caught. Maybe she doesn't like pokéballs."

"How would she know?" White crossed her arms.

He shrugged. "I don't know, but to a wild Pokémon they probably don't look too appealing."

"I guess so." She looked down at the cat, which was now licking her paw and not really paying attention to anyone around her. "Let's go and get some food. I'm starving."

"Well, I have the solution for that!"

Before White could even focus on what was happening, Bianca was standing in front of her with a brochure of some sort, covered in attractions for Striaton City, most of them having something to do with food. Like she was leading a lecture, Bianca began pointing at a specific place on the map, circling it with her finger whilst grinning excitedly.

"I've wanted to eat here since we left," she said, tapping the spot. "It's the main restaurant here. It's run by the gym leaders, and it also happens to be where the gym is located."

Hearing the word "gym" was enough for White. "I'm good to go there, then. I can challenge the gym after we eat."

Cheren crossed his arms, raising a brow. "Did I hear you say 'leaders'?"

"Yeah, why?" Bianca folded the map again, shoving it carelessly into her bag and turning back to Cheren.

"Isn't there usually only one leader at a gym?" He tapped his foot.

Bianca only shrugged. "That's a point." Shrugging, she turned towards the path and gestured for White and Cheren to follow her. "I guess we'll find out, come on!"

When White entered the restaurant, following behind an overly-eager Bianca, the smell of food empowered her senses. It was certainly a busy place; the bustling waiters and waitresses never seemed to stop walking, whether it was jotting down orders onto a notepad or delivering three dishes of food balanced on their arms. When she, Bianca and Cheren took their seats, their menus were delivered to them within a few seconds. Bianca seemed hasty in her seat, scooting back and forth in excitement. Cheren adjusted his glasses as he read through the menu.

White took the time to scan her eyes around the place. Everything seemed polished, almost perfectly clean. The table where she and her friends sat did not sport a hint of dust or food residue, and the view out the arched windows was enhanced by dark red curtains which captured the colours of the room pretty much perfectly. The floor in which the waiters walked on was so shiny it almost looked dangerously slippery, and a piano player sat in a corner, playing calming classical tunes which fit the atmosphere very well. The calming chatters of diners rung over the instrument, though they almost complemented the song. Soon enough, Cheren's voice joined them as he read the menu, not even looking up at his two friends.

"So," he said, almost absentmindedly, "what's the reason for you guys going on your journeys?"

White laughed bluntly, more focussed on what she was going to eat than anything anyone had to say. "Not really sure," she replied after a few seconds, though Cheren didn't seem fazed by her late reply. "I just want to travel, I guess. See new places, get stronger." Running a finger along a dish that looked particularly good, she licked her lips. "Maybe I'll challenge the League one day, if I get the chance to."

"That's a weird thing for you to say."

White raised a brow at his comment.

"I mean," Cheren continued, finally closing his menu, apparently having decided what to eat, "you're usually so competitive." He smirked. "Especially with me. If you have the chance to beat me at something, you usually don't hesitate to do so."

White scoffed, though she couldn't deny that he was probably right.

"But I'm going for the gyms, then the Pokémon League eventually." His face suddenly turned serious. "I mean, what else do I go for on a journey like this?" He spoke as if the question he'd previously asked was pointless to him. "Anyway, what about you, Bianca?"

The blond took a few moments to reply, too immersed in all the good-looking foods to say anything. After a few seconds, she looked up and shrugged. "I'm not sure, to be honest. I planned on finding that out while I'm travelling, y'know?" She laughed a little, also closing her menu.

Cheren suppressed a laugh. "You really haven't changed, always figuring stuff out at the last minute."

"I wouldn't really call it the last minute," interrupted White. "I mean, she's figuring it out on the way, right? She can always backtrack if there's anything she's missed."

At that point, a waiter, apparently having noticed that they'd disregarded their menus, approached them with his notepad, impatiently tapping the tip of his pen on the page and staring at the three.

"You ready to order?" he asked. His tone was blunt, though he'd probably been working for awhile. White assumed he was just tired.

She, Cheren and Bianca told him their orders, and he walked off with a pace that was almost a run, now clicking the pen repetitively.

-.-.-

"If this place is a gym," White paused, tapping her foot and looking around with a slight impatient tinge in her eyes, "then where the _heck _do you have the battles?" She looked around, eyeing all the tables with a disgruntled look. "As much as I'd like to have a battle on tabletops, this place seems way too fancy to actually allow that."

She couldn't help but laugh at the image in her head of Oshawott battling on top of tables. The otter had enough trouble keeping herself steady in battles on a field, let along leaping from table to table. It seemed like a thing Snivy or Tepig would be more cut out to do.

"A gym battle?"

White was almost scared out of her own skin when the voice came up behind her. Despite it being soft, fluent, and calm, it still made her jump and go all-out-ninja on the person behind her. Well, she almost did. When she turned on one foot, her hands were raised in a karate-chop form as she glared at the person in front of her. The boy, who didn't look too much older than seventeen or eighteen, simply chuckled, brushing his straight, aqua-blue fringe out of his similarly coloured eyes.

"Hello," he said simply as White slowly lowered her hands to her side. "Did I hear something about a Gym battle?"

Slowly, her face a pale pink out of embarrassment, White nodded. She resisted the urge to elbow Cheren, who was snickering quietly behind her.

"Well, I think I can provide that." The boy smiled, the tone of his voice never rising out of the quiet, serene one it already possessed. "Although, you are lucky it was not my brother who met you just then. He would have picked a fight with you if you seemed willing." He shook his head, an almost ashamed look on his face. "If you're ready, come with me."

White glanced back at Cheren and Bianca, somewhat nervous about the situation. Cheren just shrugged. The boy _seemed _trustworthy. He had a sort of voice that manipulators would die for. It seemed perfectly truthful, and White didn't want to question anything he said, despite having only just met him.

The back of the room was draped over with curtains. Bright red and velvety, they hung almost like waterfalls down from the ceiling. Previously, White had assumed they were more of a wall decoration, only covering what would otherwise be a completely blank wall. It certainly worked, the red matching the atmosphere of the restaurant perfectly. Because of this, something in the room seemed to disappear when the blue-haired boy pulled on a string and the curtains parted, revealing a large battlefield.

White saw a finger appear in the corner of her vision, and when she turned, she saw Bianca pointing straight at the new-found room, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"I think," she started, "we just found the battlefield."

Despite the fact that the two would have usually rolled their eyes at such a remark, Cheren and White couldn't help but nod in response. The field wasn't anything special, really. White had seen cooler ones on television. But the fact that they had just thrown it into a café without considering the consequences seemed like both a stupid and absolutely clever idea at the same time. White gaped in awe as the boy walked serenely to the back of the room where a small stage was positioned. On the stage, two people stood, dressed in the same fancy waiters' outfit, their hands folded across their laps. As the boy joined them in-between the two, White laughed at what an interesting contrast they had when they stood in a line.

Standing beside the blue-haired boy to the left was another boy, same height, same face, only his eyes were a piercing red and his hair, a similar colour, looked like it hadn't been brushed in Arceus knows how long. Despite the resemblance to his blue-haired companion, his mouth took the form of a large grin, leading his eyes to look steely and determined.

To the right stood a boy with green hair, spiked up at the front from what White could see, and pale green eyes. He almost looked sick with nervousness, which became more apparent as White, Cheren and Bianca approached with anticipating looks on their faces. Well, all except Cheren, who was examining them with the same face he would have when reading a book.

"Welcome to the Striaton Gym Café!" they chorused together, the greener of the three seeming to trip over his words a little.

"I'm Cress, the Water Master." Cress, the blue-haired one, bowed formally.

"I'm Chili, and I fight with fire-types!" The redhead punched the air determinedly.

"My name is Cilan." White noticed so-called Cilan's hands fidgeting slightly, and he reached one of them back to flatten down his green hair. "I like grass-types." He seemed extremely hesitant with all eyes on him.

"And we would like to welcome your entertainment for the evening!" all three chorused together, resulting in a few claps from diners.

White's face fell. Great, so she was going to be nothing but entertainment.

Almost before she could set her mind on her goals again, Cress stepped off the platform and made his way to the three teenagers. When he approached them, he stood directly in front of White, eyeing her from above. White crossed her arms and stared back, waiting for him to say something.

After a few seconds of just looking at her, Cress flicked his fringe and spoke. "What's your name, challenger?"

"White," she stated, stepping back slightly in order to regain her personal space.

Cress, too, stepped back. "Lovely name." He turned around and gestured to Cilan and Chili. "Now, I will explain how this gym works. Each one of us specialises in a specific type, as previously mentioned. You only battle one of us, so don't worry about that." He turned around and began to walk casually back to the stage, his voice progressively growing louder as he got farther and farther away. "The leader you challenge depends on whatever your starter Pokémon was. If you started with the generic water, fire or grass-type, you will challenge our respective Pokémon of those types, depending on whichever Pokémon is strong against your own. If you did not, you will fight against one of our other Pokémon." He looked down and mumbled the rest. "_Namely a Lillipup_._ We really need to work on that…_" He coughed before continuing. "Now, do you have a generic starter Pokémon type?"

White gulped. She could lie and say that she didn't, but that would rule out Oshawott as an option anyway. Lillipup, though he was very determined, probably wasn't strong enough to challenge a gym Pokémon. Sure, said gym Pokémon would be another Lillipup, but that one was likely stronger than one she'd only caught the previous day. On the other hand, she could probably fight through with Oshawott if the opponent was evenly levelled by just using strategy alone.

_Damn it_, she thought. _This would be easy for Cheren._ She glanced back at him. He'd tell on her anyway if she lied, so instead, she pulled out Oshawott's pokéball and held it up.

"I started with Oshawott," she declared.

On the other side of the field, Cilan flinched as his two brothers turned to him, gesturing for him to take his position on the field. As he did so, White noticed that he was shaking slightly.

"He must be extremely shy," she heard Cheren mutter behind her, not particularly to anyone else, as he and Bianca made their way to the sidelines to watch. White, shaking any lingering thoughts out of her head, took her own position and sent out Oshawott. Cilan, fidgeting with his pokéball and fumbling to throw it into the air, sent out a green Pokémon that looked like a monkey with a piece of broccoli on its head.

"I'm not the best battler," he admitted. His Pansage looked about ready to hit him on the head with something. "But I'll do my best."

White nodded. "I will, too," she muttered. No matter how bad of a battler he was, he was still a gym leader with a type advantage, and she'd be better off remembering that.

Cress, now standing on the side with a black and white chequered flag in his left hand, held said flag up and called, "The battle between gym leader Cilan and challenger White will now begin!"

"Oshawott, use Water Gun!"

Before she'd called the move, White had taken a glance at Cilan. At the time, he'd seemed to have been thinking, analysing Oshawott with all his concentration. Because of this, he'd jumped slightly when the jet of water shot out of Oshawott's mouth and hit his Pokémon in the face before it could even dodge.

Surprised, but not really hurt at all by the attack, Pansage shook itself off and glared at Oshawott, who was now laughing slightly. White knew the attack wouldn't do much, but she didn't want to risk going for a direct attack like Tackle. That would waste too much time.

"Pansage, use Vine Whip!"

Pansage leaped into the air, and White was expecting the vines to come out of its hands. She was perfectly prepared for it; this seemed an awful lot like her and Cheren's battle earlier in the day. Because of this, she was a little taken-aback when the vine was instead made out of Pansage extending its tail. It stretched like a rubber band as Pansage flicked it, sending it lashing through the air towards Oshawott.

"Dodge it!" called White. Oshawott leaped into the air as the vine slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of debris and dust which filled the air like mist. A split second later, however, the vine, still not taken out, shot up through the cloud and wrapped itself around Oshawott, who grunted as it tightened.

Because of the dust, White hadn't seen the vine still moving. It clouded Pansage's entire body from view until it was nothing but a shadow at the other side of the field. White gritted her teeth as the monkey hurled Oshawott across the room, sending her crashing into the wall. As she hit it, the vine made one last attempt at whipping her on the wall, and it did so successfully, before retracting back into a normal tail. Pansage, the entire time, had simply been standing in place once it had recovered from the jump, and was now flicking its tail back and forth while it awaited its next command.

"Fury Swipes!"

It seemed this Pansage had far too many hidden weapons. It held its previously blunt paws up, which didn't look at all threatening. That is, until shining silver claws shot out of the fingertips like spines. Flexing its paw, Pansage leapt into the air and began charging at Oshawott, who rolled out of the way just in time. The monkey hit the wall with its claws, letting out a wail of pain before retracting them and looking around. A long, faint scratch mark had carved its way into the bricks, and a pale red tinge now stained Pansage's paw where the claws resided.

White flinched at the sight; it looked painful even from how far away she was. "Oshawott, use Tackle while it's distracted!"

Not hesitating in attacking despite that fact that the opponents paws were bleeding slightly, Oshawott used the wall to propel herself at a faster rate towards the startled monkey. Pansage tried to dodge, but out of the confusion only sent itself crashing into the wall, having meant to dodge the opposite direction. As soon as it hit the wall, Oshawott made her move, slamming her shoulder into Pansage and sending it flying back towards the ground a few metres behind it.

The Pansage, despite having been hit quite hard, skidded backwards on its feet, only just managing to land upright. It was now panting slightly, clenching its paws and baring its teeth, which didn't look all that threatening. As Cilan called for another Vine Whip, it obeyed without question, stretching its tail out once more, the leaves at the tip quivering as they approached Oshawott.

"Water Gun at its face!" called White. Oshawott, not seeming all that content with the idea considering that move had previously done practically nothing, hesitated slightly when spitting the water this time. She resisted the urge to glance back at her trainer, and instead focussed on dodging the Vine Whip after giving the opponent a face-full of water.

When she jumped, however, she understood why she was ordered to do such a thing. Now with a face full of droplets and stinging eyes that struggled to stay open, Pansage couldn't even hope to redirect the vine in Oshawott's direction. Instead, it retracted the vine in shock as it blinked furiously, trying to get the stinging out of its eyes and make another move.

Before it could do so, Oshawott leapt off the ground for another Tackle attack, this time hitting Pansage's stomach. The monkey let out a wail and flew backwards, stretching its tail out to stop it from slamming into the wall.

White smirked; this was easier than she'd thought it would be.

"I-I'm not done yet." Cilan clenched his fists, his entire body shaking with either nerves or rage. White couldn't tell either way. "Pansage, use Work Up!"

Like its trainer, Pansage clenched its fists and shut its eyes tightly until it began to shake. White's mouth fell open as the previously green monkey took on a redder colour, and it looked like steam was coming off of the leafy puffball on its head.

"Use Lick!"

With its claws rendered useless, White had expected another Vine Whip. The last thing she expected was for the Pansage to dive at Oshawott with a massive tongue sticking out of its mouth. It seemed to expand with the attack, tiny strands of saliva dripping off of the muscle. Pansage still took on the faint red, and as it wrapped its lengthened tongue around Oshawott and pulled back, White noticed a look of rage now painted onto its face.

Oshawott shivered at the move. It was disgusting. For a second, she was completely stunned, her arms sticking out at her sides, but she couldn't move them. Her entire body was paralysed completely, and she didn't snap out of it until she felt the lash of a vine slapping against her skin. She was sent tumbling back towards the wall with the force. White wasn't really sure what to make of the Work Up other than the fact that it scarily increased Pansage's strength.

As she looked up, the monkey was panting heavily, but still standing. Its attacks were doing a lot more, but at what cost? The attack looked like it used up a lot of energy, so was the decreased health worth the higher attack power?

White decided to test this. Despite having been hit multiple times, Oshawott was still standing, if only barely. She, too, was panting slightly, hot breath pouring out of her nose, which had a glob of saliva dripping off of it from the Lick attack. Her slightly damp body was covered in dirt from hitting the wall.

"Oshawott, use Water Gun! A really powerful one!"

Too tired to consider the consequences, Oshawott let out a powerful stream of water from her mouth, which went shooting straight at Pansage. Well, it did for awhile. When the attack got near, the monkey leapt into the air, using its tail as a spring, and dodged the attack cleanly.

White smirked.

"Oshawott, redirect it up!"

The stream whipped up with Oshawott's head movement, catching Pansage off guard and sending it flying into the air with the force. The attack propelled it all the way to the roof of the building. Due to being in mid-air, the water didn't hit as hard as it could have. However, that wasn't what White had been intending to happen, for it also sent the opponent flying at a faster rate towards the stone roof, which would definitely hurt.

As the stream of water died away, Pansage fell limply to the ground, having taken on its original colour once more. Its tail flailed uselessly in the air as the earth grew nearer. Pansage hit the ground with a _thud_, eyes spinning in circles and now minimised tongue hanging out of its mouth.

Coughing slightly, Cress held up the flag towards Pansage. "Pansage is unable to battle!" he called, and White noticed he was smiling slightly. With another swift movement, he redirected the flag to where White was standing. "The victory goes to White, the challenger!"

White, in hearing those words, let her mouth fall open. In the adrenaline of battling, she'd completely forgotten that this was a gym battle in the first place. "We… Won?" she muttered to herself, before her eyes lit up and she punched the air. "We won! We did it, Oshawott!"

She ran up to her exhausted Pokémon and picked her up, letting her nuzzle her nose into her cheek. It was still slightly damp, but who really cared? They'd won, damn it!

As Cress approached her, he held out his hand. "You have earned this," he said, unclenching his fist to reveal a small badge. Three gems, a red, a blue and a green, lined with gold.

White took it and smiled. "Thanks," she said.

"And this is the case you will keep it in, along with all other badges of the Unova region." He held out a silver case with the Unova League sign carved into it. He flashed a smile as White took it, placing her new badge inside. "If you intend to earn all of them, that is."

Before Cress could say anything else, Chili interrupted with a bound off of the stage. His hand shot out and he pointed a finger at Where Cheren and Bianca were sitting. The two seemed a little startled by the sudden action.

"Right!" he exclaimed, glaring determinedly at the two. "Who's next?"

Glancing at Bianca quickly, Cheren stood up and walked over to where White had previously been standing on the battlefield. Snivy was sitting on his shoulder, and the snake instantly leapt onto the field and flicked his tail.

His eyes widening, Chili leapt up and punched the air. "Yeah!" The yell echoed around the room as he took his position on the other side of the battlefield, ready to face Cheren.

Cress shook his head as he picked up the flag again. "Brothers…" he muttered.

-.-.-

**So… To me, Zorua is kind of that one friend that's such a close friend that you really don't care if they get hurt anymore. Do you guys have that friend? I don't know, but I do. With all my other friends I freak out, but if he falls, I sort of just laugh. He always gets beaten up by girls anyway.**

**I actually listened to the Black and White Gym Battle Theme while I was writing the battle, and it was pretty intense. I hope it turned out alright. I hate writing battle scenes early on…**

**Anyway, since N is the other character that shows up in the character list, I figured I should put in some behind-the-scenes parts with him in them. I might do it every-so-often, since otherwise he doesn't really show up much. I want him to be a well-included character throughout the story, and not just the weird stalker that shows up and challenges White to battles.**

**I know it's always Cilan who kind of runs the gym in the games, but I threw Cress in to be that one instead. He just seems more… Capable? I don't know, but I think he's kind of the one that balances the two brothers out (and keeps Chili in tow when he goes crazy) but that's just me. Plus, I want this to be kinda unique from the games.**

**Along with N, Zorua is going to be a recurring character. I like N having conversations with one of his Pokémon, and because he switches teams a lot, I wanted a Pokémon that will always be around. I made Zorua that part in the old version, too, but he's going to play an ever-so-slightly different role in this one (Hemightendupferriswheelshippingtoo), but you didn't hear anything from me… Plus, he's just a funny character in my mind. Kind of like N's slightly smarter, less childish sidekick, only N never listens to him because he's a friend, not an advisor.**

**And now, we'll have some behind the scenes stuff that really isn't too interesting but I'll throw it in anyway.**

**For White and N's first encounter, I was originally going to have N breathing down her neck because it would be**_** very **_**creepy, but then I came up with the whole lost Lillipup thing. Reason being was that N seems too tall to breath down her neck. It would be more like him breathing in her hair, and that just wasn't as creepy when I imagined him staring at her with completely blank eyes while mindlessly stroking a dog. (If I could draw, I would draw that scene from White's point of view. Seriously, that would be hilarious).**

**That's it for this super duper long author's note. I'm sorry if this chapter wasn't as long as the previous ones, but I didn't want to shove anything else in there. It turned out okay, though, I think. So, thanks for reading, reviewing, favouriting and/or following, and I will see you in the next chapter!**


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